Archangel Investigations
by Creedog VanDrey
Summary: Clark and his friends, the superpowered Champions of KalEl, start a detective agency to counter the growing metahuman menace in Metropolis. Episode 107 airing. Preview commercials also online.
1. Preview

Archangel Investigations: Preview  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: TV-PG  
Language: English  
Summery: The Champions of Kal-El decide to make use of their power by opening a detective agency.  
Spoilers: Takes place in a slightly AU universe breaking off just before the end of Season 5, and intersecting with the BuffyVerse. Also, you may want to read "The Champions of Kal-El."

Director's Note: So, the network has greenlighted my series, _Archangel Investigations_, a continuation of my movie, _The Champions of Kal-El_, a spinoff of the popular _Smallville_ series. These are the six preview commercials.

* * *

_Kal-El was my distant ancestor. He was a prince, the second Bethgar of the united Urrika continent. He was also the first Kryptonian to be born into the House of El. Knowing that our beloved planet would not last long after my son was born, I named him after Kal, knowing that he too would start a new era, though on a different planet. _

_But this is not my son's story. This is the story of the first Kal-El. His father, Erok, was appointed Bethgar of the newly reunited state of Urrika after marrying Milia, the daughter of Uved, the chief of the northern Urrikan territories. Hoping to teach his son Kal autonomy, Erok-El sent him to a nearby solar system which housed a species genetically similar to ours, but about ten-thousand years less evolved. Back then, Kryptonians thought nothing of the primitive Terrans. Erok naturally assumed that Kal-El would quickly conquer the planet, much like Erok had done to the divided nation of Urrika, but he was proven wrong. _

_Almost forty years later, Kal-El returned from Earth shortly after his wife had died. Erok refused to call her that, preferring the term "concubine." You see, Kryptonian culture had a marked distinction between life-bonding and marriage-bonding. Life-bonding is for procreation, formed by two people with a powerful socioemotional bond. Marriage-bonding is a strictly legal tie, a way to align families and pair complementary occupations, completely analogous to the merging of two companies. It appeared Kal-El had both life-bonded and marriage-bonded (within Earth law, at least) to the woman he called Loral. Oh, the controversy it caused. How do I know this? Well, for one, I married a historian with the Kryptonian Space Exploration Association, who also happened to be my life-partner. Kal-El turned out to be a trendsetter. I too sent my own son to Earth. Because of the current Earth customs, he'll likely end up marrying his life-partner, too._

_But I digress. Kal-El forged strong bonds with several Terrans, and so powerful were the connections that the High Science Council could not ignore its potency. So, in his honor, they formed the Champions of Kal-El, a six-member team that could be used to spread truth and justice throughout the universe should it ever be required in extreme cases. Such respect did we have that we even used the Terran epithets._

_Not too long ago, my son Kal-El joined together with five Terrans to recreate the Champions of Kal-El. They have done immeasurably good in the universe, as he picked his companions well. Well, I had doubts about one of them, but she turned out okay. My son is wiser than I anticipated. _

_Naman_ _the Brave would be the leader of this team. He was to be a warrior with limitless courage and unshakeable morals. Anyone who bore his name in spirit would inherit all the powers of Kryptonian under a yellow sun. _

_Sageeth_ _the Strong would be his ever-present adversary. He will be given powers: the ability to mentally slow down his perception of time and greatly increased stamina, endurance, and rate of healing. _

The woman was beautiful. They all were. Lex had long grown accustomed to the fact that everyone had a price. If he paid enough, he would have a more talented and more beautiful fencing instructor than last year. Truth be told, there was a secret why he performed so well. After the adventure on Jorja, he retained his superhuman abilities. His eyes caught every tilt of his opponent's spine, every twist of her foot, allowing him to predict the arc of her next strike within what seemed to him to be only a few seconds. In practice, he had indomitable reflexes. And it went a long way to impress the instructor. It would be no surprise that she would accept his invitation to dinner. It would be no surprise that she would wear something provocative. If she didn't, well, perhaps she'd be getting a present in the mail from an anonymous source. It was power, which no one who knew Lex would be surprised that he wanted.

_Dayak_ _the Loyal would be Naman's ever-devoted protector. He would be given the power to wield any weapon with expert skill. _

Pete had to admit it to himself; as much as he'd like to say he went pre-law to please his mother, he couldn't help but enjoy the courses… in the long run. Tonight, he was working on a seven-page paper detailing the controversy of corporate neglect lawsuits in the case where the produce was intentionally dangerous. And he was bored out of his skull. So, he was twirling around a pair of scissors, catching them blindly as he tossed them from hand to hand. Momentarily distracted, he missed them with his hand, but was able to catch them in the crook of his toes, where he tossed them back to his hand and throwing them in the thick piece of corkboard, which already had half a dozen pens imbedded in it. Needing a moment to think, he picked up some free weights and started lifting as he talked out his argument to himself.

_Loral the Faithful would be Naman's ever-true life-partner. She must be Naman's complement, and her abilities would be mental: clairvoyance, empathy, and visual precognition. _

All she wanted was a new scanner, a big one for copying news pages and large photographs. So, she entered in the _Planet_'s date auction. And that was how she ended up at an upscale Thai restaurant with a 29-year-old sports editor, on a Friday night, when she would usually be going out to a movie with Clark, Lois, or Lana. Truth be told, he wasn't a bad guy. He was tall, almost six foot (shorter than Clark), with thick black hair (curlier and greasier than Clark's), a decent smile (though no comparison to Clark's), and glasses (which would look a lot better on Clark). If only he would button the second-to-top button so she wouldn't have to see so much of his chest hair (of which Clark had none). He mentioned that he loved shellfish. The last shipment of shellfish to this restaurant had been transported in a malfunctioning freezer truck, Chloe knew preternaturally. She also knew that her date had had dirty thoughts about their waitress, though the casual smile he had given her saying thank-you would have fooled anyone else. He mentioned an intern who had worked with him on his last project and if Chloe knew her. She did. She also knew that he had taken her out Wednesday night to celebrate their two-month anniversary. And that they'd spent the night at her place. And that they had another date planned this coming Sunday. So, Chloe excused herself to the restroom, noting that her date was too preoccupied with the woman one table over to notice she'd taken her purse and was walking to the entrance. On the way out, she mentioned to their waitress that her date loved Goong Gah Tee-em, a garlic shrimp dish, and that she should try to sell him on it.

_Myora_ _the Wise would be Naman's guide and confidante. As a gift for his wisdom, he will transcend the physical, giving him the ability of flight and invisibility. _

Lois had a figure that looked good in a cocktail dress, _very_ good. And she knew when and how to use her looks. And she knew, as she strode to a Department of Education meeting with Sen. Martha Kent, that now was not one of those times. So, she was dressed her most austere pant suit, which did a remarkable job of hiding her curves. But she also had one more trick up her sleeve. For anyone who cared to look, and there were a few eyes that were caught by the senator's coppery locks, Martha Kent was walking alone. Lois spent the majority of the meeting floating just above the heads of the various senators, trying to catch pieces of hidden conversations and reading the notes the various politicians were making on their copies of the new teacher compensation bill. True, this kind of inside information was an unfair advantage for the representative of District 11, but what Martha Kent didn't know her chief of staff was doing couldn't hurt her. Plus, since Martha had pulled some strings to get Lois enrolled in the long-distance degree program with Metropolis University, it was the least Lois could do in return. Noting that Jefferson Pierce, from the all-important District 6, was scribbling on his copy of the bill, Lois sidled over.

_Rayen_ _the Fair would be Naman's friend. She should have a love and an understanding with all creatures, who would listen to her without objection. _

Lana entered the main stables of the Metropolis Equestrian Center with the brown-coated Tiramisu in tow. The gentle mare obediently slipped into her stall and turned around for some affection, which Lana freely gave. Just as she was reaching for a brush, someone on the other end of the stable called, "Watch out!" Lana turned to see a large white mare rushing down the aisle. Lana pulled herself back to the edge of the stalls, out of the horse's way, but called out, authoritatively, "Hey, hold it!" About ten feet away, the horse stalled and began bucking wildly in place. Still Lana called to it, as if it were a small child, "What's up? You get spooked? Calm down already." The horse stopped bucking, but still paced restlessly. Lana continued to shush the horse, telling it, "I don't know what you're thinking, but you're in no danger here." The horse butted Lana affectionately, who, because of her size, had to take a few steps back, but did extend her hand to pet the horse, who let her. A ranch hand ran up, calling her a regular horse whisperer. Lana replied, "Eh, horses are smarter than you think. Just use the tone of voice that you mean with them, and they'll get the picture." The man still seemed flabbergasted—the horse, ironically named Eirene after the Greek goddess of peace, was a troubled and unstable horse—so Lana reassured the hand. He seemed to accept her point of view very easily.

_After their first adventure, I purged the memories of those three that did not know Kal-El's secret, but as a gift for their loyalty, I allowed the one he calls Chloe and the one he calls Pete to retain their memories. Though, only a few months past before the Groosalugg, an exiled Pylean Champion came to me, informing me of another mission that would require the efforts of the Champions of Kal-El. So, I had my son bring back his companions for this second mission, this time allowing the memories of all to remain intact, including the stowaway, as all showed devotion to my son. It is my hope that they will continue to carry out their mission, as dictated by the Code of Champions. _

* * *

Director's Commentary: Okay, the network has only approved us for a few episodes, so we'll be playing the entire series by ear. I've got half a dozen scripts written or mostly written, and we'll be playing as long as we're allowed. 

Okay, I'd like to thank the cast for giving of their time and energy for these previews. Thanks to Terrence Stamp for his voice. Jor-El has never sounded so good. Tom Welling reprised his role as "Kal-El the First" from the movie. "Erok-El" was portrayed by David Warner. (Ten points to whoever realizes why this is significant.) Lex's fencing coach was portrayed by Peta Wilson. Ted Raimi, who many of you know as Joxer, played Chloe's date.

Honestly, I'm kind of mad at the casting department (her name is Alexis) for hiring all these wonderful actor for these measly bit parts. She assures me she'll get them to come back.

(Sonriso) - Chloe, my autumn flower! I will save you from this scumball!

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Wednesday, November 1, 2006. Updated Sunday, May 6, 2007.


	2. Episode 101: Pilot

Archangel Investigations: Pilot  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: TV-PG  
Language: English  
Summery: The Champions of Kal-El decide to make use of their power by opening a detective agency.  
Spoilers: Takes place in a slightly AU universe breaking off just before the end of Season 5, and intersecting with the BuffyVerse. Also, you may want to read "The Champions of Kal-El."

A/N: Okay, fans of mine, please listen, because I'm about to tell you something you're probably not going to like. I promised you a sequel to "The Champions of Kal-El." I even set it up in the last chapter. However, I'm not getting enough inspiration for that fic to write it all, so I've come up with a compromise. This is "Archangel Investigations," a TV series that fits into the CoKE universe. And it will feature flashbacks to what would have been the sequel to "CoKE." Hopefully, this will work out better than if had I tried to have done CoKE II. And don't expect to understand everything that goes on in the flashbacks. The puzzle pieces will assemble themselves in time.

* * *

Episode 101: Pilot _  
_

_Clark__entered the cave with Lex over one shoulder and Lana over the other. Neither was conscious. Following him in were Pete and Groo, carrying in an equally knocked out Lois by her arms and legs. Chloe brought up the rear. _

"_Somehow," Chloe stated, eying the dormant friends, "I think there might have been a better way of doing that."_

_Depositing his former best friend and ex-girlfriend on the floor, Clark replied, "Somehow, telling them they're the chosen protectors of the 28 known galaxies and that their memories were erased of the event might go over as well as me telling them, say, that I'm an extraterrestrial."_

"_As if __**that**__'d ever happen," Chloe jabbed. As she spoke, her bracelet began to glow and eventually the table did the same. The four of them looked on with mild interest but little surprise._

_Finally, Jor-El's voice spoke again, "Welcome back, my son. And to you, Groosalugg, many thanks for acting as a desperately needed messenger. The Champions of Kal-El applaud you. But, Kal-El, why have you brought me three of your team in a cataleptic form?"_

"_Uh," Clark answered, "you erased their memories. We had to get them here somehow."_

"_Of course!" Jor-El cried almost jubilantly, "we'll take care of that. I shall return their memories, minus the unfortunate betrayal."_

_All at once, Lex, Lana, and Lois stood up, their eyes popping open widely. _

_Lois's brow furrowed, "Um, I'm getting this total wake-up-from-amnesia feeling. So, would anyone else think like I'm totally nuts if I said that I could fly and be invisible?"_

"_Not any weirder than if I told you I had the power of persuasion over all living creatures," Lana replied._

"_Champions, I am sorry for startling your mind, but your aid is necessary." While Lex, Lana, and Lois were momentarily started by the booming voice of Jor-El, their instantaneously retrieved memories kept them from freaking out. _

_Lex countered, "I'm confused why you deleted our memories in the first place."_

"_I have saved your minds from terrible tragedy, one that would risk the cohesion of your league. But, now, I fear I cannot explain further. It is of the utmost urgency that I send you to a faraway planet, Jorja, which is in great peril, overtaken by a conquering race which threatens to obliterate the planet's two cultures." _

"_Forgive me for saying so, but that's rather cliché. You'd think alien races would have a little more creativity," Lex quipped. There was what could have been considered an amused hum coming from the ceiling. _

_Silently from the shadows, a tall, twenty-something man with curly, auburn hair took the camera around his neck and placed it before his awestruck face. _

_The camera's flash would be overpowered by a sudden glow from the table. When that light subsided, the room was empty, leaving only a black lens cap on the floor. _

- - -

At the Euryphaessa Hotel in Metropolis, Kansas, Clark Kent walked into the lobby carrying a large box, which he set down on the abandoned counter, causing it to creak ominously, so he moved it to the floor.

"So, what was in that box?" came a voice from just outside the double doors. In walked another tall man of about thirty years with short brown hair, wearing a black duster over casual clothes.

"Mostly lead." Clark answered.

The man rolled his eyes, letting out a chuckle. "Why? To show off your strength?"

Indignantly, Clark replied, "I'll have you know this stuff is extremely useful to me."

"Yeah, yeah, where do you want these computers?"

"Just leave them on the table. Those are heavy, too, you know. Trying to show off your strength?"

"To who? Not like I'm gonna impress you."

Chloe Sullivan ran in, her shoulder-length blond hair fluttering, with a small open printing box. "Hey, Clark, got the business cards and flyers!" She stopped short when she saw the other man in the room. "Hey! Is this…?" She pushed her hair behind her ear.

Clark stood between the two. "Yeah. Chloe Sullivan, I'd like you to mean Angel. Angel, Chloe."

"Nice to meet you," he replied amicably, extending his head.

"So, you're like a vampire?" She couldn't keep from biting her bottom lip with curiosity.

Smiling back, he replied, "Yeah, going on… 256 years now."

"And you look _great_. What's your secret?"

"Did I mention the vampire thing?" Clark laughed. "But, uh, as flattered as I am, I think I should mention that my girlfriend would want me to, well, mention that I have a girlfriend. You see, three nights a month, she's not the nicest person to be around."

"Well, me neither," Chloe replied as she began to unpack the box she brought in.

Angel turned to Clark and commented, "Walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"I don't get it," Clark replied, deeply in thought. Angel laughed.

Chloe proudly displaced a flyer. With a dramatic flair, she read it off, "Look at that! 'Archangel Investigations. We bring truth and justice to the hopeless.'" Her eyebrows rose expectantly.

Angel looked almost slighted. "Archangel Investigations? Are you kidding me?"

"What, too derivative?" Chloe asked, deflated. She examined the flyer with pursed lips.

Angel tried to look casual, pushing all his weight onto one foot. "It's just, in the traditional Catholic hierarchy of angels, archangels are one level above traditional angels. I just figured, since you were a branch of _us_…"

Chloe paused. "Yeah… Smallville's kind of a Baptist-Methodist town. Plus, I thought you went freelance now."

Defeated, Angel replied, "That doesn't mean… whatever. I do like the logo," he offered, fingering the abstract drawing of an angel, wings flared, wearing a breastplate and raising a sword courageously in the air. "So, Chloe, what's your job again?"

"Vision girl."

Angel nodded. "We had one of those. You get a lot of business that way."

"It's an outgrowth of my psionic powers." She studied his face.

"I hope you not trying to read me in someway. Vampires don't cast a lot of reflections, literal and metaphysical." Chloe scrunched her face in disappointment.

Clark stepped up to stand behind Chloe, commenting, "Chloe underrates herself. She's the only one in this Scooby-Doo organization with any private-eye skills."

Angel grinned, "That would make you the muscle?"

Clark didn't quite know how to respond to that, "I guess so."

"Well, Clark's a lot more useful that just a thug," came Lana's voice from the door, carrying in another box. She wore a purple pant suit.

Clark's manners were quick. "Angel, I'd like you to meet Lana Lang, our manager and receptionist."

Angel, sizing her up with appreciation, commented, "Manager and receptionist. That's quite a double role."

Chloe stated, "Well, she's the only one with business skills. Plus, what better face to put at the front desk?"

Angel leaned over to Clark and whispered, "Chloe does realize she's pretty, right?"

Clark whispered back, "Lana was Homecoming Queen in high school. Chloe was the newspaper editor."

Angel replied, "I know the types. Fell for both."

Clark turned to Lana. "I've got a question. Lex was in the Champions of Kal-El. Why doesn't he manage us? No offense."

"None taken," Lana replied passively, completely unoffended.

With a mock annoyed tone, Chloe reminded him, "In case you've forgotten, Lex already has a business to run. You know, so he can keep us afloat until we start, and I quote," she dropped her voice, "'bringing in a profit.'"

Angel offered a sympathetic tilt of the head, "Good luck. Easier said than done."

"Plus, Clark… me and Lex… working together?" Lana let the implication speak for itself.

Clark nodded. "I get it. Though… _we_ used to date, too."

"It's different, Clark Kent, and you know it." Clark didn't look like he knew it.

Angel looked at Lana as she started setting up the front desk. "Is she your boss?"

Clark didn't reply, only called, "Lana?"

Lana, smiling, replied, "Technically, yes, Clark, but it's not like I can fire you. Plus, Clark, I think you should really consider being the _de jur_ manager, just for appearances." She paused and added, "Though, Clark, you go evil again, your definitely getting the pink slip."

"Pfft!" Angel remarked to himself, "I'm not the only one."

Clark became indignant again. "When have I ever gone evil?"

"Red K?" Chloe suggested, passing him to head for the entrance.

"Or when Jor-El reprograms you," mentioned Lana, approaching him.

Clark took a step back. "Look, red K takes away my conscience. And so does Jor-El."

Angel, intrigued by the conversation, commented, "Wow. You really are perfect for my successor."

- - -

Clark stood outside the hotel, his hands in his pocket and his eyes closed. The wind blew around him, but he remained with his head tilted back, silent as the night. To keep some semblance of secrecy, the team had begun to design alter egos for themselves. Clark had sent out Lana and Lois to pick out an outfit for him, telling them specifically to avoid black. Lana brought him navy slacks and a button-up shirt. Lois found a maroon duster. She wouldn't say where she found it.

Behind him, in the hotel driveway, was a white 1979 Ford Thunderbird with its top down. Pete Ross was leaning against the hood, wearing a copper trench coat over a forest green shirt and jeans, looking bored. Lois sat in the passenger seat, her feet up on the dashboard, sighing. She brushed dirt off her fitted black slacks and white tank top: clothes specifically chosen for functionality.

"18th and Palmer," Clark stated passively as he ran off at full speed. Immediately, Pete hopped into the driver's seat and raced off behind him.

"Tell me again why you get to drive?" Lois asked, putting on her seatbelt warily.

Handing her the nickel of the dashboard, he replied, "I won the coin toss. You get to drive tomorrow night."

"What are we doing tomorrow night?"

Pete smiled, "The same thing we do every night, Lois. Try to save the world."

"God, it rocks to be a child of the nineties."

- - -

She struggled, writhing underneath him, flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to throw him off, but to no avail. She kicked furiously against him, but he kept himself on top of her, holding her down, peering at her with his yellow eyes and his cackling laugh. Even amidst the struggle, all she could think about was how this guy reminded her of Gollum from _Lord of the Rings_. It was not a bad comparison. His skin did look rather gray, but that could have been the low light. Nothing was what it seemed in an abandoned alley in the middle of the night. Though, attackers usually seemed bigger. This guy looked positively shrimpy. Judging by the position of his feet, he couldn't have been much over five feet tall. And, despite his strong arms, he seemed to barely weigh a hundred. _How can I be so observant at a time like this?_

A large hand grasped the wrist of her attacker. If anything, it brought credence to her perceptions. His skin was tanned, and his hand was actually large, his grip more than able to wrap completely around the gray man's skinny wrist. But then she doubted her perceptions again, because her rescuer's hand just threw the tiny man thirty feet into a brick wall. And if that wasn't impossible enough, the gray man got right back up and ran back over.

"Ran" in the sense of how a monkey runs: slouched over, arms dangling, and cackling. He leapt into the air at her rescuer, a tall, dark-haired man in what appeared to be a _red_ leather duster. The monkey-man must have had very strong arms, because he lunged superhumanly fast, knocking over the man, which was saying a lot because this man was built like a brick wall. A crisp _twang_ resounded through the air as a dart plunged itself into the creature—there was no better word for the abomination—causing it to howl animal-like before ripping the projectile out of its side and tossing it away. It landed near the young woman, petite with dark blonde hair. There was blood on it, and it had small green particles floating in it.

She looked up and saw the origin of the dart. Standing before a white car were a black man and a white woman. The man was holding a small crossbow and the woman a battleaxe. Macy just wanted to wake up from this bizarre dream. Her rescuer, the one that had launched the monkey-man into a building, was now cringing on the ground, groaning.

"You're getting your ass whooped," said the woman without an ounce of sympathy. Rolling her eyes, she walked over. The creature looked up at her and screeched predatorily. The woman simply placed an unrestrained chop to the creature throat, who gargled as he rolled off the man.

"He's got kryptonite in his blood," groaned Clark.

"Well that would explain a lot…"

Another inhuman howl echoed through the alleyway and the beast lunged at Lois. Without blinking, she supported all her weight on one foot and extended her other in the air, toward the creature. It promptly slammed into her foot, causing Lois to fall on top of Clark, who moaned again.

The monster lay still, curled up in a fetal position.

The dark-skinned man ran over. "Whoa, you get him in the heart, Lois?"

Lois looked down her leg. "Actually, looks like I missed, but take it from me, he got off lucky dying." Both men groaned a lot louder than the taller one had earlier as Lois pulled her foot out of the creatures groin area.

Pete held up a water bottle he was holding and sprayed Clark's clothes, causing the blood to seem off. All at once, Clark stood tall and strong again, giving his partners a "thanks" before walking back over to Macy.

"Hello, I'm with Archangel Investigations." He handed the shaky Macy a business card. "Are you hurt?"

Looking at the card, Macy replied, "No. But thank you so much. What was that thing?"

Pete answered, "I don't know. But we'll try to figure it out." Lois walked over with a tarp and handed it to Pete. He gave her a questioning look. She responded with a _yeah-right_ look. Pete walked over to the creature.

Macy shivered as she faced Clark, asking questions a mile a minute in a broken voice, "You do this for a living? Am I going to have to pay you? 'Cause I'm just a waitress—"

Clark held his hand up. "No, this was a public service. But, please, keep the card. If anything like this happens to you or anyone you know, call this number."

Macy thumbed brushed over the "Inc." part of the logo. "If you're privately owned, how can you make money?"

Pete replied for Clark, with the creature wrapped up in a tarp hanging over his shoulder, "Trust me. These freaks… meta-humans, if you will, well, we've heard that there's been a number of them loose on the street. Eventually, someone with the dough is gonna need our help and we've got to get the word out." With this he stapled a flyer to a near-by telephone pole. "What I guess we're saying is, word of mouth is a good thing for us."

"Trust me, I won't be able to shut up about _this_," she said with a disturbed glance at the bulge in the tarp. She pocketed the business card.

Lois stood close to her. "Maybe you ought to take a cab. You're awfully near Suicide Slums to be wandering around after dark."

"I work around the corner. You can't get a cab, not even a gypsy cab, until you hit 16th Street." She motioned to the next street over. Lois nodded.

As Clark, Pete, and Lois turned to walk away, she yelled back. "What do I call you?"

"I'm just a guardian archangel…" With this, he literally disappeared, leaving Macy stunned as Pete and Lois drove away.

- - -

In the basement of the hotel, Angel stood in an attack pose opposite of Pete on an exercise mat. To the side, Clark and Lois watched on. Lois turned to Clark. "By the way, Smallville, 'I'm just a guardian archangel'? How lame is that?"

"Well, it's not like I practiced that in front of the mirror. It's just all I could come up with at the time. Look, Mom just got the Kansas seat in the House. It's a rather bad time to be advertising that her son is some sort of superhuman vigilante. I'm still working on my alter ego."

"Okay, Pete," Angel stated, "come at me."

Pete jumped forward with a hard punch to Angel's shoulder. Angel quickly deflected the blow with his right arm and grabbed Pete's other arm with his left hand and twisted it around.

"Uncle!" Pete cried immediately. Angel let him loose. "I'm telling you, man, my skills're with the weapons."

"Your entire body is a weapon. Lois took out the enemy last night with her foot."

"With her pumps! Which, by the way, I've always maintained was a weapon. Just ask Erica Fox."

"Who…?" Lois began to ask.

Clark answered for him. "Pete dated her the summer after our freshman year. She stepped on his foot at prom. Luckily, by that time, the dance was cancelled because of tornado warnings."

"Is that the same dance that you—?"

"Yes," Clark cut her off, in an annoyed voice.

Back on the battle floor, Angel held a large broadsword while Pete attacked him with two small, curved daggers. Pete moved gracefully, swinging his arms to deflect Angel's strikes, often using both daggers to parry Angel's stronger blows. He easily dodged the vampire's attacks and made several powerful stabs, which Angel avoided by leaping, sometimes somersaulting, backwards.

Lois chuckled. "Whoa. Check out the _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_."

Pete struck at Angel's left arm with the butt of one of his daggers, causing it to emit a metallic clang. He took a step back, mirroring the perplexed expressions of all those in the room.

"It's an artificial arm. A friend of mine did some kind of magic voo-doo on it and now's it's indestructible."

"Wow. It looks real."

"She's _very_ good with her magic."

Lois came in for closer examination. "How'd you lose it?"

"Well, when my crew and I effectively slaughtered this secret council of evil from the inside out, well, the parent company kind of sent out a demonic army of apocalyptic proportions. I was slaying a dragon."

"You lost your arm slaying a dragon?" Chloe said incredulously from the top of the stairs. She moved her hands restlessly, apparently wishing there was a notebook in them. "You cannot honestly be _leaving_ tonight!"

"Actually, I didn't really lose it _slaying_ the dragon. After sending it to Hell, I neglected to notice that I was sixty feet in the air. I landed pretty hard on a trash can. I cut up my arm pretty bad and… it was eaten off by a hellhound demon, I believe."

"Well, my dog had superpowers for a while. There was this other one that also had superpowers that bit my dad in the arm. He was okay, though," he finished softly.

Angel turned to Lois, "So, ready to take a shot at it?"

Lois uncertainly took a fighting pose. "I don't know how to start."

"Just try to attack me. We'll play it by ear."

With partial confidence, Lois nodded, "Okay, let's try this." She unassuredly wound up and punched at Angel, who easily caught the fist with one hand.

Lois briskly took hold of his wrist with her free hand and twisted hard. She expertly kicked Angel in the shin and twisted her elbow into his ribcage. He winced and took an uneven step backwards as Lois roundhouse-kicked him in the side. As he lay on the ground, Lois asked him, "How was that?"

"Okay, who taught you to fight?"

"Just some of the top drill sergeants at West Point."

Sitting comfortably on an old desk with her arms resting behind her, Chloe added, "A couple of them taught her some other things, too." Clark tried not to laugh.

"Oh, they learned a thing or two from me," Lois snapped back with a coy smile. She turned to face Angel again. "Did I not mention that I'm the daughter of Three-Star General Sam Lane?"

"It must have slipped your mind," Angel groaned as he got back up. "Try again."

Lois took a straight shot at his neck, which Angel didn't deflect, only striking her arm after her blow, and twisted his foot behind her, causing her to fall backwards. She stopped halfway down in midair and, defying gravity, righted herself.

"That's a cool trick," Angel commented with a raspy voice.

"You ain't seen nothing, yet." Lois leapt into the air, round-kicking again. Angel dodged and leapt up, grabbing her arms from behind and bringing her back down with the unexpected weight. He ran his arms around Lois's, effectively locking her behind him.

In her ear, he whispered, "Can you guess what your mistake was?"

"Using the same trick twice?"

"Yes, but that's not all."

"Hitting a thing that doesn't breathe in the neck?"

"Yes, and I don't appreciate being called a 'thing.' Still not what I'm getting at."

"Then what?" She struggled.

"Revealing your expertise to me. You've got army training. Army teaches teamwork, emphasizing holding your squad members' lives above your own. Therefore, you focus on face-forward combat, because you don't expect your comrades to stab you in the back. Ergo, I strike from behind."

"Okay, let off, Dracula. Why don't you kick Smallville around the room a little bit?"

Clark passed Lois, remarking, "Why? I was kind of enjoying seeing you being taken down a notch."

Angel replied solemnly, "I don't want you to take your powers for granted. Superhuman doesn't mean immortal. You have to be quick." To illustrate his point, he punched Clark hard in the chest with his left arm.

The force of the punch created a sonic blast. Pete and Lois fell back; Chloe rolled off the desk; and Clark took a small step backwards, briefly rubbing the area. As the others pulled themselves to their feet, Angel twisted his prosthetic arm, creating a mechanical clank and an anatomical pop. Shaking it out, Angel asked, "Clark, what are you made of?"

Rubbing her neck, Chloe replied, "We're not sure. It's not like we can do a tissue sample."

Pete added, "I've seen bullets bounce off of him."

"I once hit him with my car going sixty," Lex stated from the top of the stairs. His presence had the effect of silencing a room. "Thirty seconds later, he's ripping the roof off my Ferrari." Angel merely stared suspiciously at Lex, who commented, "I would lay off the misgivings, Mr. Angel. Clark has shown me enough distrust in my lifetime for the both of you."

"Lex…" Clark tried to reply.

"No, no, Clark, no need to defend yourself. If there's anyone who understands the fragility of trust, it's me."

"You'll have to excuse me," Angel stated with no less wariness, "but in a past life, the megacorporation was my greatest enemy."

"How mythic," Lex replied coolly.

- - -

High on the rooftop of the Euryphaessa Hotel, Angel stood on the ledge with the five members of Archangel Investigations standing behind him, seemingly in position: Clark in the center, Pete and Lois flanking him on his left, Chloe on his right, with Lana farther to the right, holding an air of authority.

Without turning to face them, he said, "You're doing a good thing. There is no higher calling than to help those who can't help themselves. Metropolis is a good city and well worth saving. And you may be one of the few capable of doing it. It won't be easy. You won't always do the right thing. I sure didn't." He finally turned around.

Lois, uncomfortable with the solemnity in her voice, asked, "Where're you going?"

"Romania. I have friends there. Hopefully, I can convince a few to visit you, share their expertise."

Chloe spoke up. "You think we'll need it?"

Angel sighed. "You'd know better than I would. And I have a feeling the city will very much need your aid." With this, he leapt off the roof. Clark burst into superspeed, but as he looked over the edge, with the rest of his team in tow, Angel was nowhere to be found.

- - -

Lex stood in the main elevator of LuthorCorp, passively reading an expense report. Only certain buttons of the elevator were lit up. After Lex swiped a key card, they all lit up, including the 33 button that he pressed. As the elevator neared the Floor 33, Lex pressed his thumb into a scanner, and the elevator, once reaching 33, jerked up another few feet.

The metal doors opened, revealing a long corridor below a metal walkway. The first thing Lex saw was the shaggy mane of his father, holding his cane and leaning against the railing on a metal platform overlooking the expansive room.

"So nice of you to join me, Lex," Lionel Luthor commented without turning around.

"So, what was this urgent message you wanted to see me about?"

"Project Silverdust was a failure. Your little play-detective agency send in the body. I hear that it was the muffin peddler who defeated him."

Lex paused for effect, "So, you're thinking maybe we ought to send one out with a little more power?"

Lionel turned to face his son, a wicked smile appearing on his face, "I had hoped you would say that, my boy. Come with me to Cell 9."

The cells were simple, unlit 8-foot cubes, with heavy glass on the front side. The walls of Cell 9 were lined with a thick layer of rubber. Only a shadow could be seen within. Suddenly, a large blast of electricity crackled against the door.

"He's leeched over 1.2 gigawatts of electricity since exposure," explained Lionel.

Lex smiled. "Well, that can't be good for our utility bills. We release him at dawn." It was neither an order nor a question.

* * *

Director's Commentary: I'd like to start out and give a big thanks to guest star David Boreanaz. He was kind enough to take some time off the set of _Bones_ to briefly revive his role as the vampire with a soul. I'd also like to thank Joss Whedon for his help in putting this show together. I think he's the only reason David even got on board. Any resemblance of the CGI FOTW in this episode and Joss is strictly coincidental and/or the work of a now-unemployed graphic artist. He actually directed the first scene and the rooftop scene. I will never do as good of work as him. 

Tom Welling is awesome. A lot of people never expected him to reprise his role as Clark Kent. I don't know where the costume department (her name is Ashley) found a red trench coat, but I suspect dye was involved. She also makes all of Chloe's jewelry by hand.

This show also marks the first time Sam Jones III ("Pete Ross") and Erica Durance ("Lois Lane") will be on screen together. The two actors have a great report, and it's a joy to work with both. They do their own stunts, by the way.

Kristin Kreuk has only gotten lovelier. Somehow she brings new life to the role of Lana Lang, and I am dedicated to keeping her character well-written.

God, I love Allison Mack, who plays Chloe Sullivan. Not only is she lovely (it would take a lot of work by the hair, make-up, and costume people to make her look _bad_, which fortunately they don't), but she puts everything into a scene no matter how worthless the director is. And I'm not taking about Joss.

Michael Rosenbaum is still the damn best Lex Luthor I've had the pleasure to write or direct. It was unfortunate that his latest movie ran over in filming, and he had to have a shortened part in the pilot. I assure you that this will remedied.

And what can I say about John Glover? Three hours is all I needed from him. Lionel is still a magnificent bastard.

You may have noted Mark Lutz in the flashback. That scene was salvaged from the discarded CoKE sequel. He's great, playing the role of Groo, and we hope to have him back soon. And, of course, that was Terrence Stamp's voice in the background.

Also, those of you with keen eyes would have recognized Laura Bertram of _Andromeda_ fame portraying the part of "Macy."

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: The team battles a _power_ful meta. Chloe's visions start to take their toll. And AAI gets a visitor.

"Sorry, I thought you were a ghost," Chloe commented to the dark-haired woman.

"Good guess."

(Sonriso) - Hmm, it was okay, but I was gravely disappointed in the lack of Hot!Chloeness.

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Wednesday, November 1, 2006. Updated Sunday, November 19, 2006. Updated Saturday, December 31, 2006. Updated Saturday, January 27, 2007. Updated Saturday, February 10, 2007.


	3. Episode 102: Gift

Archangel Investigations: Gift  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: TV-PG V D  
Language: English  
Summery: Archangel Investigations gets its first client, but at a price to Chloe. AAI has a visitor.  
Spoilers: Nothing from the show, but it wouldn't hurt to read "Champions of Kal-El" first. Vague spoilers for _Angel_ mid-Season 3 on.

A/N: Welcome to Episode 102. This show's chugging along.

* * *

Episode 102: Gift 

_Groo rubbed the angry red marks on his wrists, a reminder of where the bracelet used to be. _

_"Hey, C.K.!" Jimmy's voice came from the radio. "Uh, it looks like Chloe's gonna be fine, but, uh… I think I should mention that Lana probably escaped during the chaos." _

_Lois's eyebrow shot up. "Escaped? I thought…" _

_She didn't get to finish her sentence as it was drowned out by the loud sound of flapping wings. Then a shadow engulfed the Champions, who all turned their head up to see a large dragon hovering above them, slowly descending upon them. Pete pulled out a large sword in anticipation. But the dragon merely landed, making no aggressive moves toward the Champions. It lowered its long neck to the ground, where a rose-clad Lana Lang slid off from the base of its head. She patted the dragon like a dog and whispered to it. The dragon unfurled its wings and flew off. _

_Kennedy pushed her long hair away from her face and watched in awe. "You mean I could **that**? Cool." _

_All eyes turned toward Lana, whose sour look caused each of them to take a step back. _

_Lois gulped before asking, "Hey, Lana, decide to join the party?" _

_"'Decide to'? Just what did Lex tell you about why I remained behind?" _

_Clark meekly spoke up, "He said that you didn't think your powers were meant to be used in battle. And that you wanted someone with some fighting experience to take your place." _

_"Really?" She stared down Lex. "I'm pretty sure that that's exactly how **he** feels." _

_Lex bravely walked over to face her, "Lana, you know I have faith in you. I was only trying to protect you." _

_Lana spat back, "Why does everyone feel the need to protect little ol' Lana?" With a mock terrified expression, she babbled, "Weak and helpless Lana. She needs the big, strong men to protect her. To replace her with a big, bad Slayer-girl." _

_"Lana…" Lex tried again. _

_"Save it." She walked straight over to Kennedy, her anger still apparent. Though Kennedy didn't assume an attacking stance, she steeled herself. _

_Lana's grimace disappeared instantly as she looked up at Kennedy. In a very friendly and sincere voice, she said, "Look, Kennedy, is it? I'm really sorry about 'big, bad Slayer' comment. I was angry. It had nothing to do with you. In fact, I heard your accomplishments, and, I must say, I'm very impressed. Had I wanted a proxy, you would have been my first choice." _

_With a coy smile, Kennedy replied, "Really know how to charm a girl, don't you?" Lana took an uncomfortable step back. _

- - -

"Okay," Chloe stated, as she clicked away at the mouse in front of one of the two computers now occupying the front desk, with the rest of the team behind her. "This is our custom-made appointment program. It's very easy to use. Idiot-proof, in fact. Because Lana will be using it mostly." The dark-haired woman batted Chloe on the shoulder. "It will also remain constantly in sync with your Blackberries."

"You know," Pete commented, examining his PDA, "it's really hard to hate Lex when he gives us the neat toys. Whoo, Blackberries!"

Chloe giggled, but went on. "Most importantly, it gives us the ability to send messages back and forth when we're in the field. Should I have a vision or we get a call while you're on patrol, we'll be able to send you there right away."

Lois nodded appreciatively, "Quite a command center we've got hooked up." She surveyed the two state-of-the-art computers now occupying the hotel's front desk.

"Well, we better get the business we need to justify it. Luckily, if we do, we'll be able to handle it."

With this last comment, Chloe violently convulsed backwards. Groaning, she tried to make sense of the flurry of images flashing in her mind. When she recovered, she found herself sitting on the floor with a very large set of arms wrapped tightly and protectively around her. She tilted her head up to meet the very worried eyes of Clark. " Clark, vision's over." He released and extended his arm to help her up, catching her again when she wobbled on her feet. The two shared awkward smiles as Chloe smoothed her hair down, returning to her seat. Pete and Lois shared secret glances.

Spinning her chair around, she told them, "Um, I think I saw a power plant. Something, it looked like a person… it was sticking his hand into a generator. I think he punched through it with his fist. Meta-human, probably. I saw the logo on the side…" She spun around in her chair, and started typing furiously on the keyboard as Clark, Lois, and Pete ran around to the other side of the desk. Chloe smiled at the screen, "That's it. Beller Electric, Inc. 991 Josephine St." Clark zipped off with Pete and Lois racing toward the car.

The hotel lobby quickly grew quiet. Chloe groaned loudly and leaned her head into her hand. Lana knelt beside her. "Chloe?"

"These visions give me a mean headache. Grab me some ibuprofen and a glass of water, would you?"

"Of course," Lana replied, racing to the storage area, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

When Chloe looked up again, she noticed an attractive woman in her mid-twenties with curly, dark brown hair. She took in a startled gasp of surprise. "I'm sorry," she told the woman, "you appeared out of nowhere. I thought you were a ghost."

"Good guess."

- - -

Clark flew backwards into a generator, which crumpled around him, sending out a colossal shower of sparks. He simply pulled himself out and raced towards the meta-human.

"Just… so… hungry…" the electrokinetic stated. He was a man in his early twenties, with unruly dark blond hair, of medium height and build. He wore a white jumpsuit with a 9 stenciled on the breast.

Lois rammed through the metal gates in the car and spun the car to a halt, spraying dust and pebbles in her wake.

Pete leapt out of the car, grabbing a staff from the back. "Whoo, Lois, you sure know how to make an entrance."

Lois just winked and approached the heaving meta-human. "What's the deal, bucko?" She held a poised gun toward him.

The meta-human raised him arm and send streams of lightning at her gun, causing her to drop it. Pete's wooden staff slammed evenly into his head and he sent bolts of electricity Pete's way, who leapt out of the way just in time to escape the blast, which charred the gravel in two neat lines.

Clark zipped over to him, and wrapped his arms tightly around the man's arms, trying to immobilize him. The meta-human coursed energy through his body, but despite some grimacing from Clark, was unable to throw off the superhero.

"Calm down. We can help you!" Clark screamed.

"Just hungry!" The metahuman sent out more bursts of electricity, which caught onto the chain-link fences and finally the power line towers. As the frames started to melt, the towers, connected to overhead wire started to tilt toward Clark and the others. As one was headed toward Lois and Pete, Clark released the meta-human and raced to catch the tower before it hit the ground. He pushed it back up and used his heat vision to repair the damage.

"Thanks, Clark," Pete said, stroking the car, "you totally saved the T-bird."

Clark just shook his head, and looked around, seeing the meta-human had already fled through the melted gates.

- - -

"Yeah, I was a cheerleader, too!" Lana exclaimed to the pretty ghost. "I mean, I dropped freshman year. Starting working at a coffee shop."

The woman gave Lana a sympathetic look. "Yuck. I know the feeling. Senior year, I had to start working at a gown boutique."

"Oh, no, I enjoyed it. Well, I sucked at it, but actually ran my own coffee shop for a few years."

"Dang, look at Miss Entrepenuer!"

"Cordelia," came Chloe's voice. She walked in, holding an Advil bottle. "Not to break up this nostalgia trip, but is there a reason you came to see me?"

Cordelia stared at the medication in Chloe's hand. "That is what I wanted to talk to you about." She pointed at the bottle. "The visions are giving you bad headaches, right?"

Chloe brushed off the question. "They're manageable."

"Well, they might get worse. By the time I'd had mine for two years, a particularly nasty one sent me into a coma. On my birthday, no less!"

Chloe plopped down. "I lied. They're getting really bad."

"Well, for now, I'd recommend getting a prescription for Imitrex. It's a migraine medication," Cordelia paused, "but they're gonna get unbearable soon. Look, I consented to being half-demon to get them under control."

"And that worked?" Chloe asked meekly.

"Yeah, they didn't hurt anymore. A couple of strange side-effects, but I managed. Granted, it did start a chain of events that directly led to several potential ends of the world…" Cordelia looked up, seeing the terrified looks on Chloe's and Lana's faces. "But, you know, that probably won't happen," she added unassuredly. "But, just curious, you've not read any strange prophecies lately that, I don't know, referenced figures that held a strange similarity to you, have you?" Chloe just shook her head.

Clark, Pete, and Lois noisily walked in. Pete was saying, "Hey, don't sweat it. We'll get him next time."

"Whoa," Lois stated, seeing Cordelia, "customer?"

Cordelia unseated herself and walked over toward the trio. "Unfortunately not. Cordelia Chase, former vision girl for Angel Investigations." She extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Lois replied, reaching out to shake the hand. "I could've sworn Angel said you were—" Her hand passed through Cordelia's.

The brunette grinned. "Dead? Yep."

"Cool," Pete remarked as he reached out his hand to her chest. Coredelia responded by backing up and swatting his hand (her hands past through his), and saying, "Hey, watch it, buddy."

"So," Clark asked, interested, "why'd you come to see us?"

"See what I could do to help. You know, in the advice department, 'cause obviously I'm not good for manual labor." She showed off her hands as proof.

"Okay, advice?"

"Well, for starters…"

Chloe jumped in, anxiously, "Um, are you going to mention getting a second phone line, 'cause I'm on that."

Lois looked from her cousin to the ghost. "Um, Cordy—may I call you Cordy?"

Perkily, Cordelia replied, "Sure. All my friends do. Or did. Or do." She looked up pensively.

Lois continued, "Chloe can't do anything to you. Finish what you were saying before Chloe tried to divert you."

Lois gave Chloe a stern look as Cordelia gave her a sympathetic one. Cordelia related, "When I had my visions, they grew increasingly more painful. Eventually, they threatened my life. Chloe's already mentioned her visions are giving her headaches. They could be getting worse."

Clark looked worriedly at Chloe. She told him, "Don't look at me like that, Clark. I didn't want her to tell you 'cause then you'd worry."

Lois cut in, "Chlo, have you met Clark? Walking pit of guilt and worry. And the rest of us, we're not exactly unconcerned for your well-being. Cordy, what do you recommend?"

"Some higher powers made me part demon. It took away almost all of the pain associated with my visions. I wish I knew what we could do for Chloe. Possibly a blood transfusion." Cordelia shrugged her shoulders.

Pete shifted uncomfortably, "Cordy, there aren't many demons around here. We deal with mostly the meta-human threat." Cordelia looked confused.

"Meta-human," Chloe stated, "a person who has powers by some sort of mutation. We've seen a lot of it caused by the radiation of a special type of meteor rock that originated from the core of Clark's planet of origin. In addition, we've met our fair share of metas who were born with their powers. We'll figure it out," Chloe said without a lot of optimism.

- - -

Lois sat at one of the computers, desperately wishing it were Chloe doing what she was doing: going through the files, looking for a meta-human who might be able to help Chloe. Unfortunately, Pete and Clark were on patrol, and Lana was at a meeting with Lex, discussing the business of Archangel Investigations. So, Lois volunteered to stay behind and take care of Chloe, who she immediately sent to bed. Since LuthorCorp owned the small Euryphaessa Hotel, maintaining it as a historical monument, they'd each chosen rooms in the hotel and lived effectively rent-free.

At first, the other team member had tried to coax Clark to take the Royal Suite for himself. He was too modest for it, so the room had been converted to the dining hall, where ideally the team would eat together. Due to poor planning on account of the architect, the suite was located unusually close to the service elevator, which in the team's case, worked out great, because meals could easily be transported from the kitchen to the room. Each member was assigned to prepare dinner every fifth day. Lana immediately volunteered for the first Sunday, and had prepared a four-course meal. Chloe was next on the rotation. She attempted to cook a more modest meal, but it invariably backfired. So, the team had pancakes and microwave quesadillas. Her confidence lost, Chloe's night soon became Chinese takeout. No one complained, though Lana might have had silent reservations. Pete's night was pizza. Lois, assured of her lack of culinary aptitude, declared her night Mexican, though wanting to add variety, sometimes brought in Italian. On Clark's first night to "cook," Martha Kent serendipitously visited, so the meal that night was a delightful home-style. After that, it was fried chicken. The women vetoed having that on a regular occasion, and it was converted to barbeque night. It was Chloe who realized the secret of his success was not a top-of-the-line barbeque grill, but heat vision.

Clark _had_ been convinced to take one of the nicer suites as well as the manager's office. Lana felt she wouldn't need it because of her receptionist duties. Plus, she'd convinced Clark to be her silent co-manager. The team soon figured out why she didn't mind the lack of an office when they found that she had swindled Lex out of a bit of money to redecorate her chosen room. Chloe had taken over the antechamber to the manager's office. It had been the hotel manager's admin office, and Chloe was quick to threaten anyone who made cracks about her being Clark's secretary. She used the spacious room for all manners of research. There was a computer there that no one was allowed to touch under the threat of death.

The rest of the team had also each taken a suite on the top floors, and decorated them accordingly. To no one's surprise, the ever-growing Wall of Weird took over Chloe's living area, Pete's suite became a prototypical bachelor pad, and Clark's room had some striking similarities to his former loft. Lois, too Spartan to decorate, handed off the assignment to an all-too-willing Lana with a single rule: No pink. The younger woman did not disappoint as the room was simple but elegant, to the point of a complete lack of conspicuousness.

The jarring ring woke Lois out of her thoughts about her cousin. She picked up the phone and answered, per the cue card in Lana's neat handwriting, "Archangel Investigations, we bring truth and justice to the hopeless." She listened for a few moments, and cringed. "Yeah, that sounds nasty. Listen, we have two agents in the field. I'll contact them and they should be over there very quickly. Let me just get your information." Lois started to mess with the computer, and soon found herself lost, all the while giving affirmative remarks into the phone. She finally hung up.

"How the hell do you use this program? Idiot-proof, my ass." Defeated, she started to scribble down notes from memory on a pink notepad from the desk. Midway through, she heard the telling sound of Chloe's groans from one of the nearby room and ran off.

- - -

"Hello, welcome to Archangel Investigations," Lana said sweetly to the man in a business suit who entered into the lobby. Herself in a conservative skirt suit, Lana stood up and extended her hand over the counter, which the graceful Hispanic man took and shook firmly. "I'm Liz McCallum. How may I help you?"

"My name is Richard Foley. I represent Virgil Electric Coop. I would like to discuss a business proposition."

Lana smiled sweetly, bordering on flirtingly, and replied, "Well, I should introduce you to Mr. Elliot, my co-manager." She let him towards the manager's office.

" Jordan," Lana stated to Clark, who was sitting as his desk. "We have a client."

After introducing himself, Foley made his proposition, "Virgil Electric is Central Kansas's third largest power provider. Given that Beller is the first and was attacked two nights ago, and Kansas Electric Power is the second and hit last night, well, Mr. Elliot, we have to connect the dots and assume he'll be going for our plant tonight. Though we are insured, a major attack would hurt our business, not to mention cut off power to 85 percent of Metropolis. If you believe you are capable, we would be willing to offer a generous sum of money to your organization if you could prevent damage to our plant if we gave you access." Foley handed a slip of paper to Clark, who immediately became speechless.

Lana jerked it from his hand and examined the amount, replying casually, "This is a very fair amount of money. However, I would like to propose something. We cannot fully guarantee total protection. However, given the lead time and access you've offered, we should be able to minimize your damages considerably. How about this? For capturing the meta-human, we receive the full amount minus any damages that occur as a result."

"Sound reasonable. Any more stipulations?" he replied casually but guardedly, after examining Lana.

"Well, of course the damages must be assessed by a third party. But I assure you, we have a talented and capable staff on hand. I doubt you'll even have to go off-line. Also, in the unlikely event major damages occur exceeding the quoted amount you quoted, Archangel Investigations will not be liable for the difference. You said already you're insured."

"You've a very shrewd businesswoman, Miss Potter. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. Mr. Elliot." He nodded to Clark, who still stood silent and frozen.

As soon as Foley was out the door, Lana slapped Clark across the face. "C'mon, Clark, you need to work on your poker face."

"You slapped me!"

"You're an invulnerable alien!" Lana countered.

"Where'd you learn all that from?" Clark asked, in awe.

"You forget that after learning the secrets of the meteor shower, I switched my major from Astronomy to Business. And you don't date Lex Luthor for over a year without picking up a thing or two." She left the room with a confident smile.

- - -

Clark stood against the concrete wall protecting the main generator at Virgil Electric, with the electrokinetic in his grasp. Or rather, he stood in the imprint of his body caused by slamming against the wall. "Pete, c'mon!"

Pete turned on a pump in the back of the Thunderbird and held up a hose, pointing it Clark and the meta-human. Out spewed thick white goo, which coated the two struggling men. Clark threw the meta-human to the ground and started to wipe himself off. On the ground, the meta-human screamed and the goo around him bubbled, but he was unable to send out any bolts of energy. The goo hardened around him, and after struggling for a bit, he stopped moving. Clark approached him, spun him onto his back and ripped a section of the rubbery substance away from his mouth. Pete stabbed a metal spike into the ground and tossed Clark a metal chain, which Clark pressed against the fallen man's cheek. Clark then touched the man's cheek and smiled.

"Way to go, Pete. Completely decharged."

Pete casually leaned back against the car. "Hey, you don't thank the fireman for creating the water to put out a fire. It was Chloe's idea to use the liquid rubber and the ground stake. Where we taking him?"

"We have all the research on guys like him from Jeremy Creek. He's going to Belle Reeve. Lana's already called in advance, and they should have a rubber room prepared just for him."

Pete nodded in appreciation, "Wow. They really cater to specific needs."

"This guy won't get within thirty feet of a power source." Clark patted the meta-human, who groaned.

- - -

Chloe had been moved to her bedroom in her suite. And, now, the entire team was assembled around her bed. On her nightstand, glaringly obvious, was a bottle of sumatriptan pills. Lana explained except for some damage to an outside wall, Virgil had written them a check for a sizeable amount of money. "Now, I don't want to diminish your enthusiasm, but I need you all to understand that while this is good for us, it's no reason to slack off. Tomorrow, this check will be half as big, and the next day, a third. Keep working hard. Virgil is good publicity and we've got to keep our reputation up."

Lana, Lois, and Pete finally filed out of the room, leaving Clark and Chloe alone. " Clark, you need something?" Chloe asked sleepily from her bed. "'Cause as lovely as this medicine is, it makes me sensitive to light and sound, so kinda looking forward to turning off the lamp."

Clark didn't respond, just pulled out a metal box and a small leather case.

"Whatcha doing?" Chloe asked, pulling herself up to get a better look and appease her curiosity.

Clark, without a word, unzipped the leather case, but didn't unfold it. "Getting you help," he replied cryptically. He opened the box, revealing a small chunk of kryptonite. It caused him to fall of the chair onto the side of the bed.

" Clark!" Chloe exclaimed, but immediately fell backwards in pain, holding her head.

Clark pushed himself up from the bed, flipped open the case, which contained a hypodermic syringe. With one confident movement, he plunged the needle into his arm, and with one shaky thumb, he pushed up on the pump, drawing blood into the chamber. With his stabbed arm, he haphazardly knocked the box lid closed, leaving him heaving but bringing him relief. Chloe, too stunned to speak, remained still. Clark removed the needle, the wound healing immediately. Clark carefully took Chloe's arm, rolled up her sleeve, and injected his blood into her.

The act causes Chloe to take in a sharp breath of air. Turning to Clark, she asked, "What are you doing? Are you mad?"

Clark removed the syringe. The one drop of blood that emerged from her wound immediately scabbed over. Clark reached over and brushed Chloe's bangs away from her face. "Well, there were no demons in a fifty-mile radius. Figured this'd give you the strength to handle the visions."

Chloe smiled sweetly and pushed the covers off of her. Clark began to object, but Chloe related that she'd never felt better in her life. She grasped Clark's wrist and held it to her shoulder, saying, " Clark, thanks. A lot. I know it's no fun being around kryptonite."

"It hurts a lot less than if you blew out the back of your skull."

Chloe laughed. "Cordelia tell you about that?"

Clark's face dropped. "That could really happen?"

"One day at a time, Kent. For now, I'm pretty good."

"You know, in Kryptonian culture, when one warrior gives blood to another, it makes them eternal allies."

Chloe smiled sweetly for a moment, before stating, "Duh."

There was a brief silence with lots of gazing before Chloe said, her eyes downcast. "I want to write stories for the _Planet_."

After a moment of looking conflicted, Clark replied, "Chloe, I realize that it's your dream, but… you left three months ago to come here. I mean, we can get a replacement—"

"No, Clark, this isn't my two weeks notice. I was just thinking about what Lana said about money. If I could moonlight, part-time, at the _Planet_, do stories about Metropolis's newest guardian angel, well, it might bring a little more income."

Clark paused then smiled. "You know, all day, it seems like everyone else knows how to run this business better than I do. Sounds great, but you think the _Planet_'s really gonna publish stories about a superpowered man who protects Metropolis from mutant bad guys?" He gives her an incredulous smile.

"We've got Virgil to vouch for us. Plus, maybe if I give them pictures…"

Clark nodded, but slowed to a standstill. He looked at Chloe with an almost hurt expression on his face, which he wiped off. Distantly and uncomfortably, he replied, "Are you sure? I mean… I-I think, I think you should do this."

Apologetically, Chloe replied, " Clark…"

"You get some rest."

In desperation, she continued, " Clark! I feel…" Clark exited the room and closed the door with a brisk slam. Chloe threw herself on her bed, nearly in tears, the sour frown taking over her face.

- - -

Pouring two glasses of scotch in his penthouse, Lex Luthor commented, "You know, it took three days for Archangel Investigations to dispose of the last of the… meta-human menace, I believe you call it?"

Lana, her arms folded, replied, "Lex, there's no one else that could do what we did. Listen, Clark, Lois, and Pete are all very capable. And they're getting better. Plus, I seem to recall we brought in a sizeable fee."

"Beginner's luck," Lex dismissed, handing Lana the glass, who frowned at him. "Look, that fee may seem like a lot of money now, but unless you start bringing in that kind of income on a regular basis, you might just be captaining a sinking ship."

"Funny, I seem to recall saying that myself tonight."

Lex grinned, "Maybe I'm rubbing off on you more than I thought." He clinked glasses with her, and both sipped. "Lana, if it seems like I'm being hard on you, I am. Trust me, I believe that if there's anyone who could make Archangel Investigations a success, it's you."

"And now you're just sweet-talking a simple small town girl," Lana chided in a mock-sultry voice.

Lex placed his hand on Lana's arm. "You staying tonight?"

Lana turned her eyes up to Lex. "Of course I am. But I've got to leave bright and early."

"Good enough for me." He leaned in to Lana, who unabashedly met him halfway in what would become a very long and very deep kiss.

* * *

Director's Commentary: Mark Lutz and Iyari Limon appeared in the flashback. We'd love for Iyari to come back. And, yes, that was Aaron Ashmore's voice in the flashback. We're working with Aaron right now, as we have several ideas for bringing him in for an extended recurring guest star role. We wanted him as a regular, but he was busy on a movie project with brother Shawn when we started filming. 

Oh, and it was lovely to have Charisma Carpenter guest star on what is essentially a rip-off of one of the best Cordelia-centered episodes of _Angel_. The girls got along great. Too good, in fact, as it was nearly impossible to get them out of their trailers.

Also, the similarity between Aldar from "Static" and my meta-villain (played by Dax Griffen of _Firefly_ fame) is completely coincidental.

In an ironic twist, "Richard Foley" was portrayed by Dave Foley. You're going to think we named the character after him, but you'd be wrong.

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: AAI fights a pesky infestation. Chloe gets help from an old friend.

A/N: Look, normally, I'm fairly lenient on reviews, but your precious reviews in CoKE really allowed me to get in touch with my fan base. I need to know what's working and what's not. As of now, I'm getting the impression that Episode 101 didn't work at all, because so far, it's had a low hit count and no reviews.

(Sonriso) - My poor Chloe!

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Friday, November 10, 2006. Finished Sunday, November 19, 2006. Updated Sunday, December 31, 2006. Updated Saturday, January 27, 2007. Updated Friday, February 9, 2007.


	4. Episode 103: Faithful

Archangel Investigations: Faithful  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: TV-PG V  
Language: English  
Summery: Chloe moonlights at the _Daily Planet_. Archangel Investigations fights an infestation.  
Spoilers: Nothing from the show, but it wouldn't hurt to read "Champions of Kal-El" first.

A/N: I figured since I got 102 out so quickly that I should work hard on this one so it's at least out on time. I'm really trying to put out at least every two weeks, which is hard because I have finals coming up. I especially need to work on getting the season arcs going so that you have a reason to get hooked.

Yeah, so that totally didn't work. Maybe if I can build up some momentum, I'll start posting on time.

* * *

Episode 103: Faithful 

Clark entered the double doors of the Euryphaessa Hotel with a box of donuts and a tray of six cups of coffee with a content smile on his face. He found Lana sitting at the desk, reading through expense reports on the computer. "Coffee?" he offered. Lana thanked him immediately. "Donut?" he offered with enthusiasm.

Lana gave him an almost dismissive look. " Clark, what're you trying to do? Sabotage me? Have you seen my hips lately? Shoo." She gestured him away.

"Guess that's a 'no' then." He moved toward his office. He was intercepted by Lois, who snatched a coffee. "Good call on the java, Smallville."

"Donut?"

He was met with the same look as before with Lana. "I've got to keep in tip-top shape. We don't all got your metabolism."

Clark entered his office with the full box of donuts and his face twisted in a spurned look. Immediately, Pete popped in. "Hey. Whoa, donuts? Wha'cha doing hogging them all for?" He grabbed one and a coffee.

Clark rolled his eyes in defeat as Chloe entered. Her eyes widened at the sight of the coffee. "Coffee? Clark, you are my hero," she commented with sincerity.

Clark didn't even try to squelch his happiness. "Donut?"

Chloe eyed them, and after a short internal battle, snatched one and bit into it, her eyes closing in ecstasy. "Oh, this is amazing. Though," she said without humor, locking eyes with Clark, "if I come back in here, it is your job is to stop me from taking even one more. _By any means necessary._" Clark laughed, but Chloe didn't break her gaze, even as she backed out of the room, pointing a warning finger at Clark. Clark pulled himself a donut. Pete, leaning against the wall, chuckled at the entire scene.

In the lobby, Chloe approached the front desk, still holding the half-eaten morsel. Lois and Lana immediately glared at it with a mixture of envy and disapproval. "What are you doing?" Lana asked, not taking her eyes off the donut.

With a half-smirk, Chloe shook her head. "It's one donut. Get over it." She took another bite and asked pointedly, "Don't tell me you're still having guilt trips from that _one_ time you ate an entire box of chocolates in one sitting?"

Lana flatly replied, "I hate you."

"Lex imported those straight from Switzerland. I don't fault you. Though keep talking to me like that and I might just have to…" she started to speak semi-sensuously, as if she were appearing in a television commercial, "…tell you about how this donut just _melts_ in your mouth, the glaze _dripping_ off it…"

Lana's entire body tensed, her muscles tightening like violin strings. A jarring telephone ring led her to grab the phone and answer, with a calm sing-song tone, "Archangel Investigations. We bring truth and justice to the hopeless. What can we do for you?" Her entire body instantly relaxed.

Chloe walked back toward her office while tossing the last bite of donut in her mouth. She caught Lois smirking at her. Mimicking Chloe, she teased, "The glaze _dripping_ off it. You need a boyfriend." Chloe ignored her.

Within the manager's office, Clark and Pete were joking as they each polished off their third donut each. Lana, followed by Chloe and Lois, rushed in.

"We've got a job," Lana stated, " 1956 Gilbert Street. Next door neighbors say they haven't seen the family in three days. They went over to look and the place is invested with cockroaches."

Pete quipped, "Who are we, the exterminators?" His hand strayed behind him in search of the donut box.

Lana calmly replied, "When they're two feet long with pincers, yes." She grabbed the donut out of Pete's hand and put it back in the box with a severe look.

To herself, Lois repeated the address, which for some reason was echoing in the back of her mind.

As she, Pete, and Clark rushed out, Chloe turned to Lana. "You think you can hold down the fort for a couple of hours? I've got an errand to do." Lana nodded.

Lana was left alone in the room. She turned to the desk and saw the open donut box, with still a few donuts left, which she eyed stoically, as she licked the glaze from Pete's donut off her hand.

- - -

Chloe stood frozen at the top of the stairs, staring at one particular desk in the bullpen. "JAMES B. OLSEN" read the nameplate. It was currently unmanned, which shouldn't have been a surprise since photographers did very little work at their desks, spending most of their time on assignment or in the development rooms. She mentally prodded herself for not anticipating this.

"Chloe?" came an all too familiar male voice.

Chloe spun around, "Jimmy? Or is it James now?"

The tallish man with light chestnut hair blushed, "Uh, yeah, no matter how many times I introduce myself as James, inevitably I still end up being 'Jimmy,' so whichever you like." Chloe just shrugged, and they began to descend the stairs toward Jimmy's desk. He continued, "So, couldn't stay away from the _Planet_ for very long, could we? I was kind of surprised that you left for a detective agency. What was it called again?"

" Archangel Investigations. We specialize in strange and paranormal cases."

Jimmy adopted an expression of understanding as he sat down at his desk. "Shoulda figured. I knew it would take something X-Files to drag _you_ from the printing press."

Blushing, Chloe cut him off, "Look, how would you like to be part of the story of the decade?"

Jimmy took only a second to consider that. "Well, you're certainly the one who would get that. Though, why the old Jimster? I'm just a photographer."

"And I'm just a reporter. This is why I need you." She turned in, holding his shoulder as she lowered her voice, "Look, later today, Virgil Electric is going to be handing out a press release personally thanking Archangel Investigations for protecting their plant from an unknown mutant menace. I figured that the _Planet_ is gonna wanna be all over that. And they'll want it yesterday. How would you like to be part of the team that will chronicle some of Archangel Investigation's adventures?"

"How can I say 'no'? How big's the team?"

Briskly, she replied, "I write. You take pictures."

With intention, Jimmy commented, "I like that team." He smiled suggestively. "So, why me?" He swept a hand through his curly hair.

"I trust you." Chloe wanted to smile back, but she was forced to admit, "Jimmy, Archangel Investigations, it's made up of the Champions of Kal-El."

Jimmy immediately realized the connotation, and took a small step back. "Oh, with C.K., and…" he paused here before going on, "Lois, and Lana, and Pete—he's a good guy—and… Lex Luthor?"

"He's more of a silent partner. He's a little busy to do field work. So, you in?"

"Absolutely."

- - -

_Jimmy Olsen was having quite a time trying to wrap his head around being in the alien craft. Four short hours ago, he was trying to entice the lovely Chloe Sullivan into a casual dinner date. And now, he was on a distant planet, only to realize that that same lovely lady was part of a secret six-member team that was the last hope of survival for that planet he was occupying. _

_Krisreo and Maddinai, natives of the planet, returned with two cups of liquid. Chloe greedily drank hers, humming with bliss at the strange beverage. Jimmy couldn't stand it. He watched Maddinai as she left. The woman—or whatever she was; she looked very close to human—was beautiful. And had she not had a tail and had his heart not be stolen by the blond woman beside him, he might have hit on her, in his own special Jimmy way, which usually meant just being too cute for the woman to say no. The technique **had** lost him his virginity. _

_Chloe was sitting at the control panel, her chin her hand. Her other hand was absentmindedly rubbing her wrist, reminding Jimmy of what used to be there: the turquoise bracelet, a kind of extraterrestrial wedding ring that bound her to Clark: Naman and Loral. The whole situation gave Jimmy a sick feeling in his gut. _

_Jimmy finally broke the silence. "So, this is why you're not interested in me? 'Cause you're secretly married to C.K.?" _

_Chloe gave him a pitying look that didn't help Jimmy's disposition. She giggled briefly and replied, "We're not really married, Jimmy. It was just when the time came to call on the Champions of Kal-El, well, the six of us happened to be in the room, and I emphasize 'happened to be.' Clark was naturally a first pick for Naman. And, well, he needed a Loral. Since he wasn't married, the duty fell to the person who was most faithful to him: me." _

_"Oh." Jimmy, in the last few hours, had gotten a crash course, which all at once made him completely understand the inscrutable relationship between the intrepid blond reporter and the Kansas farm boy. _

_Chloe sighed. "Jimmy, look, I really am kinda interested in you. It's just a bad time." _

_Despondently, he replied, "You've been saying that for months. I mean, how long is this super-job gonna last?" _

_"I don't know. I guess until the universe is safe." She faced the large command center screen, not looking at Jimmy. _

_"Chloe," he searched for the words, "look, if Earth is any indication, the whole universe isn't ever going to be **completely** safe. I don't think you want to spend the rest of your life in a pretend marriage with Clark Kent." _

_Chloe looked downcast, not wanting to admit that he was right… or wrong. _

_"I mean, are you and C.K. …? 'Cause that would have been an okay reason to give me for backing off." _

_"No," she pronounced, "Clark and I… it's complicated. He gets scared off." _

_"**I**'m not scared," Jimmy announced, and with every ounce of confidence, grabbed Chloe around the shoulders and laid a hard kiss on her. After a moment for the action to sink in, he added, "Betcha C.K. would never've tried to pull that." _

_Chloe couldn't help but smile. "No, can't say that he ever has." _

_As Jimmy leaned in for another kiss, Chloe mimicked his motion. Halfway there, she released an ear-splitting shriek and fell to her knees gripping her head. Jimmy was at her side in a fraction of a second. "Chloe, what's going on?" She didn't answer; she just passed out after her scream devolved into a meager groan. _

_Over the radio system, he heard Groo scream inhumanly in pain. Clark's voice came over the intercom. "Chloe? What's going on over there? We've got Groo screaming about the bracelet burning him." _

_Jimmy replied, "Hey, C.K., it's Jimmy. Uh, Chloe's… well, she's unconscious. What do you think I should do?" _

_"Get help!" The command seemed obvious now. Jimmy rushed over towards where he saw Kris and Maddie exit the room. They met him halfway, and he directed them towards Chloe. They rushed to her side, examining her. Kris ran in another direction, apparently for medical supplies. From the hallway, Jimmy turned and noticed that a door was open… a door that was supposed to be closed. A door that it was **his** job to keep closed. And now the room that that door led to was empty. _

_"Way to go, Olsen," he said to himself, "not only have you somehow caused the woman you're crazy about to go into shock, you've also failed the twelfth richest man in the country." He slammed the door and ran back into the command room. Chloe seemed to be recovering, so he spoke into the intercom, "Hey, C.K.! Uh, it looks like Chloe's gonna be fine, but, uh… I think I should mention that Lana probably escaped during the chaos." _

- - -

Pete looked skeptical as he drove the Thunderbird. "Look, Lois, I've tried it before. They found a way to screw it up. Plus, aren't you the one who thinks she's too good for him?"

"Petey Boy, I don't think anyone's good enough for Chloe. Plus that opinion of him was kind of formed when I thought he was just a frumpy farm boy. As much as I _hate_ to admit it, Clark's some kind of superman, both in body and action, and it's really hard to look down on him."

"Yet, you still find a way. You really want to try this?"

Lois sighed. "Look, apparently even the universe wants them together, or else they wouldn't have been given the whole soul mate roles. Even Jarnelle thinks he and Chloe are good together."

"I think he prefers to be called 'Jor-El.'" As they turned the last corner onto Gilbert Street, Pete relented, "Okay, okay, I'm in."

As they slowed to a stop, a large cockroach-like creature crashed into the hood of their car.

Lois stared at the wiggling bug steely, "I really like this shirt. I hope whatever these things are made of, they wash out."

"Only one way to find out." Pete grabbed a rather large machete and an even large smile on his face.

- - -

"Take your next left onto Gilbert Street. Your destination is ahead," politely stated the woman's voice on Chloe's add-on navigation device in her red Volkswagen Beetle.

Jimmy, breaking one of the dozens of silence that had occurred during the trip over, asked, "So, you all still have your powers?"

"Yeah, I've developed visual precognition in addition to the other quirks."

"Like visions of the future?" He failed to contain his astonishment.

"Near-future, I guess. By the way, we're all keeping our identities as secret as we can, so kindly forget to mention that you know our real names."

"I'm just the photo guy. Unless you're wearing highly visible name tags."

"We've got faces. I won't insult you by asking you to blur your pictures, but try to stick to action shots rather than portraits."

"Shadowed faces… large-angle point of view… I know how to get great shots without compromising identities."

"You're the best, Jimmy."

Jimmy winked, and Chloe pretended not to notice. He wondered why Chloe wasn't looking at house numbers, but before he had a chance to answer, he realized exactly how Chloe knew where the address was.

Pete stood in the middle of the street, two machetes in hand. He was swinging them with grace and precision as a herd of giant crab-like insectoids lunged at him from all sides. Chunks of oversized cockroaches were thrown with abandon in every direction, often leaving trails of thick, green pus. Flying around in the air in defiance of gravity was Lois, kicking and stabbing with two daggers at the buzzing creatures around her.

To say Jimmy had a good camera was an understatement. It held a 5-gig memory card capable of holding over three thousand high-definition pictures and five separate batteries: one for the processor and four for the flash, allowing for up to four pictures per second to be taken. He was making use of the camera's capabilities by taking pictures nonstop, only occasionally taking time to reframe. And when Clark lunged through the front window covered in a dozen mutant cockroaches, Jimmy was ready, even getting a several pictures on him while he was still in mid-air. Clark held no weapons; instead he used his body, slamming himself into the ground, leaving potholes with the crushed remains of his arthropod enemies. He also ripped the pincer-edged limbs from the monsters, and Jimmy loved those images most of all.

Seeing the fierceness of the creatures, Jimmy pulled his eyes away from his viewfinder long enough to check on Chloe, who was scribbling furiously on a quarter-sheet notepad, flipping pages with nearly as much speed as Jimmy pressed his capture button. As Clark was again swarmed with a dozen bugs, he launched himself ten feet backwards into the air, and Jimmy spun just in time to get two pictures of all three heroes in the same shot: the samurai-like Pete on the ground, Clark face-up in the air with a cockroach in each hand, and Lois higher in the air, in the middle of a drop kick. Jimmy was already mentally writing his Pulitzer speech.

Unable to pull his eyes away, Jimmy called to Chloe, "You know. I don't know which of them is most impressive."

Equally focused, Chloe replied, "They're a team, Jimmy; they're most impressive together." She looked up just in time to see Clark roasted at least four bugs with his heat vision. "Though," she added, "I have to admit, that's kinda hot."

Jimmy turned his head away, partly to take more pictures, partly to hide his faded smile.

Fifteen minutes later, the ground was littered with oversized bug parts. As Pete started throwing the remains into a trash bag, Clark and Lois ran into the house to check on the inhabitants, coming out with a family of four. Lois held a girl of about seven years in her arms. She was holding her own arm, wrapped in what appeared to be her father's alma mater sweatshirt. Lois placed the girl on the ground and started to examine her wounds. "Thank you, army first aid training," she said to herself.

On the lawn, Clark spoke with the parents. "The ambulance is on its way. We'll be gone by then."

"Not that we don't appreciate it, but what took so long? We called two days ago."

Clark appeared muddled, "You called in to us? We got a call from your neighbors; that's how we knew to come."

Lois, having finished putting a splint on the young girl, turned and muttered, "Oh, crap." After cringing with guilt, she stated slowly, "We got a call the other day. I couldn't figure out the computer system, and… I wrote down the address, but there was another emergency I had to attend to. Sorry?"

Clark sighed deeply and turned back to the family, "Listen, no charge. But I swear, we'll be reviewing our messaging system…" He shot a dark look at Lois. "…and should respond more quickly next time. Please don't let this mishap dissuade you from telling your friends about us."

The man shook his head with a smile, "Listen, kid, you're the only ones in town who do what you do. And you do a bang-up good job. And I hear you do a lot of it for free. Hell, you're heroes if I ever saw them." He grasped Clark's shoulder. Clark had a fleeting image of his dad doing the same thing. A siren in the distance warned him.

"Got to go." He appeared to disappear, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.

Four blocks over, Clark, Lois, and Pete regrouped, with Chloe and Jimmy meeting them right after. As soon as Jimmy and Chloe got out of the car, Clark approached Jimmy with determination. Jimmy took a step back but Clark amicably stated, "Jimmy, it's nice to see you again. I'd shake your hand, but…" He showed off his hand, which was still slick with bug pus.

"I appreciate that," Jimmy replied.

Clark smiled, "Thanks for doing this. We need the publicity. I'm sure Chloe has told you about—"

"Your secret's safe with me, Mr. Elliot."

" Clark," Chloe said. He stared at her with an absence of expression. She continued, "I'm going to take Jimmy back to the _Planet_. See you back at the hotel?" Clark nodded in response before racing off.

As they entered Chloe's car, Jimmy asked, "If you and C.K. aren't… why meet up at a hotel?"

Chloe laughed. "It's where our offices are. The Euryphaessa."

Jimmy nodded in reply. "That's an odd name for a hotel."

"It's a Greek god or something. Lex'll talk your ear off about it."

The distance to Fifth Street and Concord seemed very short. As Chloe parked out front the _Daily Planet_'s office, Jimmy asked, "So, now what?"

"I've got a story to write. I'll e-mail it to you." Checking her watch, she added, "Virgil will release the publication in about an hour. This place will be swarming with the need to know more about Archangel Investigations. Get your best shots ready."

"Okay," was all he could say in response. He looked wistfully at Chloe, wanting to say something else. She cut him off, "Jimmy?" He turned to look at her. She finished with sincerity, "It was nice to see you again."

He calmly answered, "You too, Bright Eyes."

- - -

Pauline Kahn slammed her hand on the desk so hard, coffee mugs shook and one glass of water tipped over. If she received any pain from the gesture, she didn't show it. "Look, people," she practically screamed, "somehow a superhero league has cropped up in Metropolis and we didn't know anything about it! Do you think the _Gotham Gazette_ misses stuff with their caped crusader? I don't care what you do; I want this to be on the front page of the _Planet_ tomorrow. If the words 'Archangel Investigations' isn't in the headline tomorrow, everyone last one of you will be looking for jobs." Every last journalist in the room cowered away from the five-foot woman.

Jimmy tried to sneak in unnoticed, or perhaps only pretending to be discrete.

"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Olsen. While you're out gallivanting on company time, the biggest news story of the year comes out. Care to inform us what story you've been chasing?"

Jimmy threw two sheets of paper and a stack of enlarged photographs on the table. "I was there. Saw Archangel Investigations in action."

Kahn looked at the young photographer in disbelief. She looked down at the article before her. "You wrote this?" she asked holding the sheets of paper up.

"A friend of mine did. Those are my photos, though."

Kahn looked down at the photographs, with appreciation. "Well, Ricky wasn't lying to me. You are a damn good photographer. You can't seem to capture any faces, but these are still good. Tell me, Mr. Olsen, what's your job title?"

"Archive Photographer's Assistant."

"Well, if you can bring this type of work to me on a regular basis, you'll be a Field Photographer with the year. This…" she peered down at the article again, "Veronica Venus, this friend of yours…?"

"Yes, it's a pen name."

"I figured." She continued to read the article, "This is good work. Where have I seen this before?"

Jimmy shrugged casually.

Kahn eyed her photographer suspiciously. "Just keep 'em coming them. Tell your friend the same."

- - -

Standing in the hotel lobby, Lex Luthor surveyed pincer-tipped appendage. "Intriguing."

"Yeah," Chloe replied, "I did some tests on it. It's a mutated cockroach. I didn't _find_ any kryptonite…" Her voice lingered, implying more.

Lex finished her sentence, "…but you have your suspicions. Not too surprising. I had my LexCorp scientists working on the last two metas you brought in. Autopsied the gray one; did a physical examination on our electrokinetic. We were able to get corresponding results in mice using kryptonite fragments and related stimuli." Clark shifted uneasily. Lex, noting this, commented, "Listen, Clark, I've told you, we have only a few pounds, kept in the highest security. Clark, as uneasy as our friendship is, I don't want you dead, for both financial and personal reasons. Plus, there's only one person we know who's kept stockpiles of it."

Pete added pointedly, "Yeah, the CEO of your biggest trading partner."

"Every project that we share with my father's company comes across _my_ desk. He sends me only legit stuff. And for a reason, I'm sure."

Leaning against the front desk, Lois hypothesized, "Let's say your dad _is_ behind all this. Why cockroaches?"

"On the one hand, he's done animal testing in the past. Cockroaches are the most evolved creatures on the planet, capable of surviving nuclear fallout. On the other hand, our antennaed little friends would be the single greatest trespasser in lab environments." Lois shuttered. "Any chance you have more remains we can test?"

Chloe reached behind the desk and dropped a trash bag in front of him.

"Classy."

"Double bag with a melted seal. It's as airtight a CSI bag. But cheaper."

Lex shrugged approvingly. "I saw the Virgil announcement today. Damn good PR for us. I heard we had another client today. Were they generous?"

Clark sighed, "Yeah, but only with praise. We didn't charge them."

Lex arched his eyebrow. "I'm a bit worried. I didn't realize you were doing pro bono for call-ins. Gilbert Street isn't exactly a low-income neighborhood."

Chloe jumped in, "We were unacceptably late to a call-in." Lois backed up to the desk, trying to make herself scarce. "There was a flaw in our communication system. Though, I worked on the problem. Our phone lines are now tied directly through the computer, allowing us to digitally record each call. I'm working on a way to get the computer to automatically contact the field beepers."

Lex sent an admiring smile Chloe's way. "Between your technical expertise and publicity, Lana's business saavy, and the skill set of the rest of you, minus a few bouts of incompetence…" Though he faced no one in particular, his voice spoke a single soul. Lois, now sitting on the front desk, scooted back far enough to slip behind the counter. Lex continued, "Start-ups are never easy. But I like the talent we've got in the room. Just keep it up. I don't like surprises."

At that moment, the clacking sound of the entrance door caused all the heads in the room to turn toward the front of the hotel lobby. Standing in the doorway was a beautiful twenty-something woman. Upon her five-and-a-half foot frame, she wore a conservative, terra cotta blouse and dark jeans. Except for a quartz crystal necklace around her neck, she was devoid of jewelry and had on only light makeup. Her warm brown hair lay simply over her shoulders. Her demeanor was highly nervous and lowly, and with very little assurance, she meekly breathed, "Hi."

There was a stunned silence in the room. Lois finally spoke, "Lucy?"

* * *

Director's Commentary: Yes, the triumphant return of Aaron Ashmore. He fell right into the role of Jimmy Olsen, which is amazing considering the role he played in his upcoming film. He and Allison haven't lost an ounce of their chemistry. We've already contracted him for several episodes. 

Also, Carrie Fisher owned in her role of Pauline Kahn. It's amazing the presence that woman has. We're comparing schedules to see if she can return. Also, Peyton List returns as "Lucy." She's returning in the next episode, and let me tell you, it's gonna be good.

The character of "Krisreo" in the flashback was portrayed by yours truly. Originally, the character was supposed to be portrayed by David Krumholtz, but he had scheduling problems, and the movie was cancelled before we could get him on. The part of Maddenai was played by Teal Redmann. Come back anytime, cutie.

The family was portrayed by actors Charles Mesure, Tisha Terrasini Baker, David Marshall, and the adorable Rhiannon Leigh Wryn.

And, yes, the network has extended our run to five. They're very stingy, and we're submitting 106 and 107 for review. We sent them to Joss first to look at, and he liked them, so hopefully you can expect them later on. Keep in mind that the most number of shows the network is going to give us for this season is 13. Here are the titles for the next few episodes, just to get you excited:

104: Repachage  
105: Treasured  
106: Roofie (working title)  
107: Penelope (working title)

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: AAI welcomes the prodigal Lucy, but she's not the only visitor. Things between Chloe and Jimmy develop.

A/N: This was dedicated to **carcassi**, who does the Chlarkimmy better than anyone I know.

Despite the fact this makes me look like a review whore, I do need the teensiest bit of feedback, so I won't post the next episode until I get a signed review.

I feel so unclean now.

(Sonriso) - He's unbearable when he gets this way. Just review, guys, okay? Listen, he's got some killer ideas coming. And I promise he's setting up for them. The last thing he needs now is discouragement. And, gosh, after that scene, I'm simply must have a donut!!! But Chloe smothered in glaze is fine, too.

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Saturday, November 11, 2006. Finished Thursday, December 28, 2006. Updated Saturday, January 27, 2007. Updated Saturday, February 10, 2007.


	5. Episode 104: Reparation

Archangel Investigations: Reparation  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: TV-PG V S  
Language: English  
Summery: AAI deals with the return of Lucy Lane. Another friend of Angel visits.  
Spoilers: Nothing from the show, but it wouldn't hurt to read "Champions of Kal-El" first. Kinda vague spoilers of _Buffy_ S7.

A/N: So, you've gotta be asking yourself: is the series going to be all about the Chlimmy… or the Chlark? And how long's the Lexana gonna last? And is Lois going to die a horrific but ironic death? And is there an apocalypse coming? And, for goodness's sake, is Clark flying yet?

Okay, you can all thank **Metropolis-Rising** for earning you this chapter. I would also like to thank **Met** myself for his well-done review, reminding me that CoKE II never actually aired, and the majority of it still only exists in my head and notes. That helped me to redirect this episode, so I'll go ahead and dedicate this chapter to **Metropolis-Rising**. Oh, and I switched the flashbacks in this and the pilot episode, so you should note the change in reruns.

Oh, and I changed my mind. This episode is now called "Reparation," not "Repachage" on the basis that it's not a real word. I had to draw the line somewhere, as a writer.

* * *

Episode 104: Reparation

_Unlike Dagula-Inagehi, the arid desert of Jorja was hot under the red sun Pontikos. The Champions of Kal-El trudged across the sand, spacious but light robes covering their bodies and protecting them from the sun. Wearing the familiar turquoise Shaman's Eye bracelet was the tall, able-bodied Groosalugg, his once long black hair now showed evidence of being cut short but allowed to grow out as of late. He was fulfilling his sacred duty as Loral's warrior proxy, as Chloe decided to remain with Krisreo and Maddinai in their ship, acting as the command center. He looked longingly as Lois, who kept looking forward despite feeling his eyes on her back._

_Also acting as a warrior proxy was the beautiful and able-bodied Kennedy Huerta, who represented Rayen, replacing Lana. _

_Lex caught up to Clark, who eyed him warily, the memory of their last adventure still fresh. "C'mon, Clark," Lex began, "don't look so paranoid. I know we haven't been on the best of terms lately, but I want to do the right thing just like you."_

_Clark__smiled and tried to breathe out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, Lex, just caught up in all this," he commented lamely. He reminded himself that Lex's mind had been purged of the memory of his betrayal at the Kenaki palace. _

_If the statement sounded awkward to Lex, he didn't make any indication of it. He lithely asked, "Tell me one thing, Kal-El, were summers this warm on Krypton?"_

_Clark and Pete stopped dead in their tracks. The rest looked on in confusion. _

_Lex took several steps forward, circling Clark like a wolf. "What, do you not like to be called by your birth name?"_

_Clark__smiled uncomfortably. "Lex, what makes you think I'm Kal-El? Just because I'm Naman—"_

_Lex, smiling viciously, replied calmly, "Well, this past summer, I took Lana to the Kawatche Caves for some anthropology assignment. I returned to my mansion to find a rather curious book sitting on my desk." He met Clark's eyes. "At first I figured it to be some kind of practical joke. Probably my father; you know how whimsical he can be." He held his hands out as if holding a rather large book. "The binding and the pages were made of very strange plastics, and the writing was in two languages: one was nineteenth-century British English, and the other was in the same writing as the cave walls. Well, knowing me, I hired the best linguists in the country to see if they could use the book to translate the cave walls." This time as he paused, the rest of the team was noticeably silent. "Well, it appears the book was not a fake. My linguists were able to translate portions of the cave writings, nothing intelligible yet, but still more progress than we've made in years. Do you want to know what the book was about, Clark? It was about a little planet called Krypton less than a light year away from the Milky Way. There was a race of highly advanced humans living there before the planet's super-dense core became unstable and caused the planet to explode. It said that a scientist, named Jor-El of all things, sent his infant son to Earth. He believed that under a yellow sun and lower gravity this child would demonstrate amazing powers, much like the ones Jor-El… gave you." He spoke this last part with some doubt in his voice. "Well, if we were to assume Naman was a Kryptonian—the story fits rather nicely—well, that would explain your powers. But then I thought, if you had always had these powers, it would explain a lot of the strange occurrences that have been happening over the years, and why they all seem to involve you. Which is why…" At this, Lex pulled out the kryptonite dagger. _

_Clark__grunted. "Not again." He fell to the ground. _

_Then Lex did too as Groo knocked him upside the head. _

_Kennedy spoke up, "You know, I think I'm going to sit this one out. It's probably a stupid guy thing."_

_Suddenly, Groo fell to his knees, clutching the bracelet._

_- - - _

"Lucy?" Lois breathed, staring intently at the brunette woman near the entryway.

"Hi, Lo," she said, trying to sound uplifting.

After taking a moment to collect her words, Lois asked, stunned, "W-what are you doing here?"

Her voice cracking, she lamely replied, "Can't a girl visit her big sister?"

Exasperation filling her voice, Lois spat out, "Do you happen to remember what took place the _last_ time we met? And… how did you find me?"

Lucy passively held up a wrinkled Archangel Investigations flyer. "Don't think I wouldn't recognize my own sister? Does Dad know what you're doing?"

"No, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell the General." After a brief pause, she returned to, "Where the _hell_ have you been for the last six years?"

Lucy chuckled as she started stepping down the stairs, "Getting out from under the thumb of a German loan shark; what do you think?"

Dazed, Lana asked, "How?"

Matter-of-factly, Lucy replied, "Five hundred grand and a new Ferrari will get you started." She shifted her eyes down to avoid eye contact with Lex.

"Speaking of which," Lex said calmly, his tone causing Lucy's head to snap back up, "need I remind you that that was _my_ Ferrari you hijacked?"

Lucy casually slipped a hand in her pocket then threw Lex a set of car keys. "Brand new. Silver, just like the old one."

Lex studied the keys in his hand. Flatly, he commented, "Miss Lane, I could fill a parking garage with these things. It's not the car I care about; it's about being robbed."

"I know," Lucy replied immediately, "but I've repaid you, and you'll have to trust that these last few years have been my jail time."

Curiously, Lex inquired, "How so?"

Reluctantly, she admitted, stumbling over her words, "For the last few years, I've been doing things I would rather not even mention… but I'm free now." The relief in her voice still sounded strained.

Clark's brow furrowed. "I thought that loan shark was arrested."

"There's always a bigger fish… or shark."

Lois marched toward her sister. "I'm still a bit confused on how you repaid you debt. I mean, we're not talking _prostitution_, are we?"

Indignantly, Lucy answered, "No."

"Drugs?"

"No," came the sharp reply.

"Money laundering?"

Exasperated, Lucy pleaded, "Lois, drop it. I've worked it out, okay?"

Sighing, Lois lowered her voice to a normal level, "So, what brings you to Metropolis, sis?"

Plainly, Lucy stated, "Airplane. I'm a flight attendant now. We flew into Met International last night."

Her calmness disappearing, Lois screeched, "You said it wasn't prostitution."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh, for goodness's sake."

Chloe finally approached her cousin. "It's nice to see you again, Luce." They hugged. "So," she began calmly, "what's with the sudden visit?"

"I'm just trying to get a second chance," Lucy explained.

"Indemnity," stated Lex.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah."

"What?" Lois prompted, her eyes jumping between her cousin and employer.

Lucy shrugged. "Indemnity, it means… redress, reparation… paying back for my sins, you could say…"

Lois scowled. "You just had to be the smart one. Big SAT words."

Lucy shrugged, "I got Daddy's brains. You got Mom's—"

"I know," Lois cut her sister off with a smirk. "What's it like being a flight attendant?"

"Being a prostitute would be less demeaning, _and_ I'd make more."

Lois eyed Lucy's lone piece of jewelry, a clear crystal necklace, and commented on it, "That looks pretty nice."

Rolling the jewel in her fingers, she callously stated, "Fifteen euros from a sidewalk vendor in Orleáns during a rather long layover in France. The real ones are all the rage in Paris. Look, I've got a two-day stay. Any chance you got a spare room in this place?"

Lana turned around, eyeing the large staircase leading up to the first floor of hotel rooms. She turned back around, and replied matter-of-factly, "I think we might be able to find one."

- - -

Jimmy was whistling a song to himself as he confidently entered the Euryphaessa Hotel. The lobby appeared empty, so he walked over to what used to be the lounge area, only to be blindsided by a beautiful woman sitting in one of the chairs, reading. She looked up from her book and smiled at him. It was a very enchanting smile and Jimmy thought it seemed familiar somehow.

"Hi, I'm, uh, Jimmy Olsen…" His voice came out a little bit higher than he would have liked.

The stranger sweetly replied, "Hi, Jimmy, I'm Lucy Lane."

"Like Lois's sister?" Lucy just nodded, giving him another stupefying smile. "And Chloe's cousin," Jimmy remarked, "I should have seen the resemblance."

"I don't look anything like Chloe."

Immediately, Jimmy stated, "You have the same beautiful smile."

Her face filled with genuine appreciation. "Oh, that's sweet. Jimmy, is it?"

Jimmy at this point was praying that he had remembered his antiperspirant. "Or James. I go by both."

"Well," her tone was a mix of sultriness and girl-next-door innocence, "if I get to choose, I'd go with 'James.' It has a more masculine feel while still capturing your cute personality." She titled her head and some of her silky hair slid across her face.

Jimmy made a high-pitched noise which he covered by clearing his throat and continuing, dropping his voice half an octave, "Well, I kinda like 'James,' too."

"Okay." With another curious tilt of her head, she asked, "So, do you work here?"

"Not exactly. I work for the _Daily Planet_ as a photographer." Lucy gave him an interested smile at this, so he continued, "But, uh, me and Chloe work together, documenting the whole Archangel Investigations… thing."

"Awesome, very cool," Lucy said with full sincerity. "So, what does Chloe call you?"

Chloe took this moment to walk up and cheerfully greet, "Hey, Jimmy!"

Jimmy jumped nearly a foot in the air before spinning face Chloe. "Hey, Chlo."

"I see you've met my cousin Lucy."

Jimmy was too stunned to reply, trying to suppress guilt that came to him for reasons unknown. Lucy modestly stated for him, "Sorry. Look at me. Entertaining guests like I own the place. I'll leave you guys to your work."

"No," Chloe replied, "stay here, cuz. We'll work in my office." Lucy nodded and returned to her book.

Chloe led Jimmy toward her office. "You seem jumpy," she observed.

"Sorry, it's Lucy. I can tell you're related. You're both beautiful and charming."

Chloe's next expression could have been interpreted as hurt or condescending.

Jimmy tried to recover, "What I mean is… uh, actually, I don't know if I can say it any better…"

"Jimmy," Chloe said flatly, "get over it." She walked ahead, making Jimmy have to take a few leaping steps to catch up.

- - -

"So, she took her _shopping_?" Pete inquired, doubt thick his voice.

Lois, dumbfounded, replied, "I'm telling ya, Lana said she was going to the mall, and asked if anyone wanted to come along. _Chloe_, excitedly, jumped at the chance, and _Lucy_ just wanted to stay and chat. I'm thinking transference stone."

Clark tilted his head in consideration. "Where's Lucy now?" he wondered.

"She said she wanted to wander around the city. She called up a friend."

Clark shifted uncomfortably. "Look, Lois, are you sure we can trust her? I mean, last time…"

"Look," Lois said, cutting him off, "no one knows my little sister better than I do. I haven't given her _any_ details about the agency… or our powers, for that matter. I'm sure she just assumes this is some kind of Mulder and Scully Incorporated that Chloe threw together. Plus, I made her take an oath."

"An oath," Pete repeated skeptically.

"Yeah, when Lucy and I were kids, we would exchange our deepest secret so that we could use it as blackmail if the other snitched."

"You two had a great childhood," Clark commented.

"Look, I have information on her that she does _not_ want the General to find out." She nodded superiorly. "I know how old she was when she lost her virginity."

"What's she got on you?" Pete asked with a grin.

"Same thing."

- - -

Lucy squealed with laughter, taking a sip of her coffee. "You're hilarious."

"I didn't mean to be," Jimmy replied, his cheeks pink.

"Well, you're just adorable. You don't have to a have a sharp wit if you've got great delivery."

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably, "Lucy, I feel weird about this."

Lucy studied him, "You like Chloe, don't you?"

"I'm crazy about her."

"Look, we're just a couple of friends, having coffee. You're not with Chloe, yet, and even if you were, you're wouldn't be cheating, okay?"

"You think I got a chance… with her, I mean?"

Lucy feigned disbelief. "Aw, sure; you're irresistible. Chloe doesn't have a chance." She took a sultry sip of her coffee. "I sure wouldn't."

Jimmy gulped then smiled proudly. "Thanks. You know, I'm two years older than her, but sometimes I feel like I'm ten younger."

"You've got different personalities. Peace, child." She finished off her coffee. "So, tell me, where can I get a good scoop of ice cream? I don't know the area very well."

Jimmy studied her for a moment, "I thought you grew up here."

"Daddy moved us around a lot. I was really young, and we were only here only for a couple of years before he shipped me off to boarding school. Ironically, I know Switzerland like the back of my hand."

Jimmy shifted his eyes back and forth and scooted up in his chair. "This is a big secret." Lucy leaned in with a devious grin. Jimmy continued, "This guy is 100 local and privately owned. Makes his own ice cream. It's incredible. I think I'll take Chloe there." Lucy grin morphed into a blazing smile.

- - -

There were at least six extra-large shopping bags in Lana's hands as she entered the hotel. Chloe followed her with a couple of bags of her own and a wardrobe bag thrown over her shoulder.

Pete, from one of the seats in the lounge area, quipped, "Spending our well-earned money?"

"It was money well spent," Lana replied almost curtly.

Chloe giggled at her tone, lugging the bag off her shoulder.

"You get yourself something pretty?" Lois asked suggestively.

"Nope, got Clark something pretty." She unzipped the wardrobe bag, revealing a conservative blue business suit. "You good in blue."

Clark studied it with neither appreciation nor disgust. "Thanks," he stated flatly, "did I need one?"

"Yeah, Clark, if you have any hope of maintaining a secret identity, you've got to separate Clark and the Archangel." Pausing to reach into a bag, she continued, "Which is why I also got you these." She pulled out a pair of simple, black eyeglasses.

"My eyesight's fine."

Chloe's face dropped in disbelief. "That's an understatement from someone who can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, telescopically, microscopically, and _through things_." She stared at him. "You wouldn't believe how different people look with glasses."

"I love it, Chloe," he said sincerely, "I honestly could not do this without you, and I appreciate everything you do for me."

Chloe froze and her face blanked. Trying to hold back the flood of graciousness, she replied, "Well, it's what I do. And thanks for noticing." Without expression, she extended her arms, allowing Clark to take his suit. He took them and tried on the glasses. He looked straight at Chloe, his expression asking for appraisal.

"I'm gonna defer to Lana."

"You look hot and sophisiticated," she replied distantly, "In fact, I want to jump your bones at this very moment."

Clark turned back to Chloe. "I'm pretty sure she's kidding. About the second part." Lana smirked. Chloe smirked back.

A loud growl from outside caused everyone's heads to turn to the door.

"What was that?" Pete exclaimed.

"Mutant alligator," Chloe predicted.

"Sounds like our job," Clark replied, zipping into superspeed. Half a second later, he was dressed in his trademark red leather duster. Pete found himself in his own trench coat and with his weapons belt around his waist.

"Forgot me," Lois quipped, walking toward the desk, peeling off her blouse, giving Clark time to turn and race toward the door. Pete reluctantly pulled his eyes away to follow Clark. With a white tank on and saber in her hand, Lois followed. She turned to Chloe, "This'll be exciting."

Chloe too made her way to the door, leading Lana to comment, "What are you going to do?"

"Watch. I get a kick out of it."

What was happening outside was very out of the ordinary. Clark, Pete, and Lois fought off an eight-foot, reptilian monster. But the real surprise was that they were aided by a woman floating in midair. Though her hair was white, she appeared young, and her body seemed to glow faintly. Balls of fiery light were thrust from her hands toward the beast. Annoyed, the beast leapt high into the air, and landed mere inches from Chloe, who luckily jumped out of the way in time. The momentum carried it into the wall of the hotel, but that did not weaken it. The beast, with heightened reflexes, spun around and pounced onto Chloe, trapping her wrists under his claws. Clark stood momentarily stunned until Pete's call drew him toward the monster.

Though her vision was obscured, Chloe recognized the telltale breeze of Clark's superspeed. Then, the creature screeched loudly, and as the air around her got warmer, Chloe thanked the higher powers for Clark's heat vision. The claws relaxed and the monster soon found itself airborne, where Lois grabbed it from behind the neck and slapped it down hard onto the ground, where Pete was waiting with a sword to stab it in the neck.

Not to be easily put down, it continued to struggle, even as blood flew profusely from its neck wound. The floating witch glided down toward it and held her hand out. Pete and Lois backed up. The woman did not acknowledge them, her face instead frozen in intent concentration as she muttered in a foreign language. A yellow glow engulfed her hand and, all at once, the creature started to jerk, its limbs, moved by an unseen force, being bent at odd angles abruptly, until it finally stopped moving all together.

The witch finally released a sigh of relief. Her glowing subsided, revealing her fair skin. Her hair started to darken to rust-red color, making her age more apparent: around thirty. She turned to the five people who surrounded her in cautious awe, and she smiled sweetly. In a kindly, upbeat tone, she said, "Well, that wasn't exactly the way I imagined us meeting, but apparently this darn Bindisu demon followed me from Arkansas. You see, it has a special taste for witches. Can you imagine?" Being met with only blank stares, she asked, "Well, it looks like that Angel didn't inform that I'd be stopping by." She extended her hand, "Willow Rosenberg, at your service."

- - -

With her eyes closed, Lana sat in a white chalk circle in front of a burning white candle, a clay bowl filled with sage leaves at her feet, and a half a dozen pens and pencils laid before her. One of the pencils rolled, as if pushed by an invisible force. Then another one leapt up into the air where it shook unsteadily in the air. Then, one of the pencils suddenly shot towards Pete, who caught it without blinking. It was within an inch of impaling his sternum. "Careful, Lana, not all of us got super-reflexes." He gave an advising look at Clark, just in time, as the rest of Lana's pencils shot in random directions.

One shattered against Clark's hand, held in front of Chloe's face. The blonde gave him an appreciative grin. "Thanks, Clark. Though, next time, how 'bout just catching it rather than exposing me to high-velocity wood splinters?" Clark opened his hand revealing the entire composition of the shattered writing implement. The blonde smiled sheepishly, "I stand corrected."

"Sorry," Lana stated.

Willow just rubbed the woman's back. "Hey, it happens to the best of us. By the way, you show an enormous talent for witchcraft. Any experience?"

"Well, in high school, I was possessed by a very powerful witch that happened to be my ancestor."

"Never a dull moment with you people."

Lois chirped, "I hear you stop an apocalypse like almost yearly."

"If not more. It's a living." The redhead paused then held her hand up to Lois, who immediately leapt up into the air. "You've also tasted magic," Willow commented.

Lois returned to the ground. "Well, Isobel had some gal pals. You can _taste_ magic?"

"Yeah, it leaves a distinct flavor on one's life force. You taste like blackberries."

"Could be her breath," Chloe quipped, "good chance she had some blackberry wine earlier today."

Lois sneered and responded as she returned to terra firma, "You know; we exchanged oath secrets, too. Don't make me blackmail you."

"Lois, if this is about our first times, it's not really secret with _me_. You, on the other hand…" Chloe smiled superiorly and threateningly.

"I also know about your last time. Specificially, _when_ it was."

This shut up Chloe. Though, Clark's super-hearing did pick up, "Clark, don't react to this, but Lois's first time was when she was fifteen with a guy named Danny Scardino."

Willow turned to Chloe, "And you taste like raspberries."

"Isobel had two girlfriends," Chloe remarked matter-of-factly.

"And they were a handful," Clark commented.

"What do I taste like?" Pete asked.

"I don't sense any magic. Though I am picking up some grilled tilapia."

"Well, I actually had that for lunch." When he thought no one was looking, he breathed into his hand.

- - -

Chloe strolled down the familiar steps into the _Planet_'s first story bullpen. Upon greeting Jimmy, she asked what the fuss was all about around the office. "Surely, everyone can't be that excited about St. Patty's day." Jimmy smirked, handing Chloe an image, which she quickly hid. "This is Kahn. What is she wearing?"

"Someone photo-shopped her stock photo. They put her head on top of this model in a golden bikini from some fashion show. Kahn's having a fit over it. We know it came from inside because it's obviously our in-house photo-editing software. Must be someone real talented," Jimmy said, in an almost bragging tone.

Disbelief shot across Chloe's face. "No!" she whispered, "You're crazy." She stared at him before grabbing a napkin off his desk.

"I'm a rebel."

"You go get ice cream? You missed a spot." Jimmy turned to give her access to his face. He was momentarily disappointed when Chloe placed the napkin in his hand.

"Yeah, I went to a place called P. Mason's,"

Chloe nodded, "I know the place. By yourself? That's a big place to meet friends or have dates."

"No, I went with, uh… a friend of mine," Jimmy covered.

"Anyone I know?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Just someone new in town." Jimmy paused, "Look, the photo guys are going out to O'Cassidy's Pub tonight. A couple of them are bringing dates…"

Chloe's face dropped. "Jimmy, I'm gonna have to give you a rain check on that."

He then tacked on, "How 'bout next week? Business lunch, strictly professional?"

Chloe gave the photographer a knowing look, before smiling, "You know what? That sounds really nice." She uncomfortably looked at her watch. "Look, I got to get back to the hotel. Turns out our newest guest knows a thing or two about computers. She's helping me set up the new pager system."

She nearly ran out, before racing back to the desk, "How's the Jordan Elliot shot look?" Jimmy quickly dug it out of folder, showing her an image of Clark in his Archangel outfit on a street corner, dramatically positioned, but with his face only half visible and partially shadowed. "It's perfect. Go to press with it."

- - -

Chloe giggled at Willow, who was working briskly and ceaselessly at the computer. "Wow, I'm almost jealous. You really know what you're doing."

"Eh, every superhero team needs a techie. Though, you guys have got the techie _and_ the vision girl rolled up in one very smokin' hot package."

Chloe took the compliment as gracefully as she could, "Thanks."

"You know. I really didn't have to do much at all. You've got a great system set up so far." She spun in her chair to face Chloe.

"Aw, you're just being nice." She brushed a soft punch of Willow's shoulder. The witch studied the gesture. "But I really did enjoy your company. We're a very diverse group, and that's good in a lot of ways, but it's nice to have someone drop in who understands me." Willow continued to study Chloe, who continued, "Maybe we can keep in touch?"

Willow smiled sympathetically, "Listen, I'm flattered, I really am, it's just… I'm seeing someone now, and we're really serious."

Chloe was instantly speechless, her mouth hanging open as the gears in her brain attempted to decipher Willow's last comment. She finally came up with very erudite, "Huh?" A sudden memory floated to the forefront of her brain.

_Groo_ _looked sadly at Lois, but turned his attention to Kennedy, whose fighting ability impressed him greatly. _

"_Miss Kennedy, is it?" Kennedy smiled and turned her head, nodding. Groo continued, "How did you learn such skill?"_

"_I was trained by my Watcher. And I've been working with a rather large group of girls like me out of Europe." She studied the man, recognizing the subtle cues. _

"_On my planet, a woman who is a warrior is highly sought. Sometimes there are great tournaments fought for her hand, often lasting many moons…"_

"_Look, Gron, is it? Before you start declaring you'd fight in the big whip-it-out-and-see-whose-is-bigger contest, I should let you know I'm flatter, I really am. It's just… I'm seeing someone." _

_Groo__backpedaled. "Oh, I apologize for being forward."_

"_No, no, it's alright. But she's very nice. You'd like her."_

"_Her?" he replied bluntly. _

_Smiling, she added, "Yeah, didn't see that coming? No one does."_

"_I did," Lex stated passively. _

"_Aw," she taunted, "a little miffed that being your girlfriend's proxy doesn't afford you the same rights?"_

"_I'll recover. And so will Clark." Lex grinned mischievously. _

_Clark__replied, "Why would I care if you and Lana don't get to… I mean… she's my ex, yeah… and plus, Chloe and I aren't… even so, __**Groo**__'s her proxy…" As Clark and Groo exchanged looks of epiphany, they both looked sick. _

_Lex joked to Kennedy, "You'll have to excuse him. He grew up on a little farm in Kansas. Literally." _

"_Eh, doesn't bother me. Of course, I'm from New York." Chloe's giggles could be heard in the background from their transponders. _

Chloe, mouth still agape, asked, "Kennedy?"

"Yeah. Oh, was that you guys she got called away for? Small world. Look, I'm sorry if I caught you off-guard."

"No, I'm usually more tactful than this. I just didn't mean to… make it seem like… You know Clark?"

"I may have met him," Willow replied ironically. "You're married to him, right?"

"No! Well… it's weird."

"So, you and Clark aren't…?"

"Nope, the 'marriage' is purely symbolic."

"Just friends?" Willow baited.

Sighing, she relented, "Yep."

"Oh, wait, you mean you _do_ like each other?"

"Well, Clark I'm not so sure about, really, and me, well, I've kinda had this thing for him since… forever-ish."

"I know the feeling," Willow replied with understanding.

Chloe nodded, "What was she like?"

"It was a him." Off Chloe's look, she remarked, "It's not enough to pin down my Kinsley number, you've got to graph it against time, too. Go on."

"Well, I also have this friend name, Jimmy. Well, we're friends. Kinda more, kinda not. We're going to lunch soon… And he's really a great guy. I can completely trust him."

"That's nice," Willow commented.

- - -

Lucy, lounging on the corner of Jimmy's desk, joked to the uptight Jimmy, "Relax, James. You said yourself that you and Chloe have finished all your business. Your work, I mean," she teased. "Plus, I think you'd kinda like the reputation you'd get for having so many pretty girls hanging around you."

Jimmy lightened his mood. "I don't know. I almost feel guilty spending the whole day with you."

"It wasn't the whole day. It was just a few hours here and there. And, why?"

"Well, Chloe and I… well…"

"You like her. We've established that."

"And I think she kinda likes me back… but C.K., he kind of complicates things."

"Because of the whole Naman and Loral thing?"

"They told you?"

"Lois trusts me," she replied quickly. She shifted restlessly. "James, c'mon, it's way past quitting time. Your pictures ain't goin' anywhere. I'm _bored_. It's St. Patrick's Day. I wanna get wasted. Where can we go for that?"

Jimmy frowned, "Should I be doing that? Taking you to a bar?"

"Jimmy," she nagged him, emphasizing the name, "you're driving a _friend_ to fun night in the city. You don't have to dance me with unless you want to. You're not gonna buy me drinks. I don't even mind if you want to leave. I can grab a cab for the way back. Being a flight attendant pays better than you'd think." Jimmy still didn't look convinced. "James, you've got a great shot with Chloe, and I'm happy for you. I've only got one more night in Metropolis—spring breaks are a busy time for us—so yeah, I'm kind of rushing the development of our friendship." She leaned forward, exposing a little bit of her cleavage to Jimmy. He diverted his eyes.

"Well, the guys are doing this thing. I wanted to take Chloe, but she's busy…"

Lucy cut him off, "Then I'll tell her I met you at the bar and she missed out. And that she'd better hurry or a very attractive photographer is gonna be scooped up by some random hussy. _Please_ can we go?"

Jimmy grabbed his car keys and dangled them in front of Lucy, who clapped gleefully and hopped off the desk. She almost stumbled, but grabbed onto Jimmy's shoulder just in time.

- - -

Lex boldly entered his father's office. "You've been keeping me out of the loop with the cockroaches."

Dismissively, Lionel answered, "Lex, you're talking nonsense again. Have you been drinking? I thought you weren't into celebrating the holidays."

Ignoring the quip, Lex charged ahead, "Archangel Investigation fought an infestation of mutated cockroaches. I don't recall _that_ plan being on the table."

"Lex, there's a cockroach in the corner right now. There's surely one or two in a lab so top-secret that we don't let exterminators in. Need I remind you that there is seven _hundred _pounds of kryptonite down there?"

"Dad, careful," Lex sharply reminded his father, "you don't know the word 'kryptonite.'"

Standing up, Lionel continued, "Humans that come in casual contact with kryptonite acquire powers. I think a few roaches that got locked into a lead safe might display certain attributes. Plus, Mr. Schwab worked here. It's no surprise that a few of them might have hitched a ride back to his house."

"Dad, Archangel Investigations estimated there were at least seventy-five mutated insects inside that house. The bag they gave us alone contributed to nineteen individual specimens. So unless you think that seventy-five roaches hitched a ride in his briefcase, that means these things could _breed_."

The CEO was unmoved. "We've never seen any consistent tests where the 'meteor rock' ever caused sterility. Lex, what do you want me to say?"

He stopped toward his father's desk. "I want you to say you're not getting careless in your old age. People that piss you off, go ahead of give them their silent retribution. What else can I expect from you? But those you don't give a damn about? Don't put them in danger, 'cause if you're not following the trail and doing clean-up, that trail is going to lead right back to you."

Lionel surveyed his son ominously. "I have trained you well. Just be careful when you criticize me, son." He sat back down. "Was there anything else?" He didn't look up from his computer.

Lex dropped a file on the desk. Lionel opened it with interest, "Ah, the Abednigo Project. The subjects had the very opposite effect than what we expected. But, in retrospect, it probably makes more sense from an evolutionary standpoint."

"I'd like to release all of them. The city is quiet. That means Archangel Investigations is doing their job too well, and not getting paid for it. They'll be released in a very public place."

"Be my guest, Lex. They were costing us a fortune in natural gas." Lex picked up the file, but Lionel stalled him, "Tell me, how is Miss Lang?"

Lex look momentarily perturbed by the question, but didn't hesitate, "Lana…" he began, saying her name with emphasis, "…shows a lot of talent in keeping a business in the place, though I wouldn't necessarily call her any entrepreneurial genius. She has a good education and an amazing aptitude for dealing with people; she learns quickly and never gives up. I'm not worried about her." Seeing it as a poor place to finished, he added, "Or Archangel Investigations."

"Just curious. Since we're on the subject, any thoughts on the rest of them?"

"Clark Kent hasn't changed a bit, just gotten some lofty ideals stuck in his head. Pete Ross is the same, though it appears all it took to soften his opinion of us was a few trinkets. Well, his opinion of me, at least." Lionel didn't express anything; Lex continued, "The only change I see in Lois is her lack of drive in finding a boyfriend. Odd, but it helps the bottom line. Chloe Sullivan, on the other hand, shows incredible intelligence and sacrifice. She gave up a fast-rising career at the _Daily Planet_ for this. She's got more than lofty goals in mind."

"Are you referring to Mr. Kent?"

Lex gave a small, pensive tilt of his head. "Wouldn't be surprised, given her history of aiding Clark in his hero duties. Though, I might add, she's brought in a certain Jimmy Olsen to help with publicity. I like it. He's a wholly unremarkable young man whose sole contribution to the relationship is that he notices Chloe…" Lionel's attention seemed to be waning, but Lex continued unabated, "…which means that there will be no distracting relationships within the organization. Clark seems more than willing to watch Chloe be swept up. And he's long since abandoned his obsession with Lana." He said "obsession" with what he thought was too much inflection. "Bottom line, Dad, we keep the 'heroes' busy with meteor mutants, the cash will continue to roll in."

Lionel smiled proudly. "Good. Now get out of my office before the feds accuse us of fixing prices." As Lex obediently left, Lionel devoted his full attention to his computer screen, which showed several images of Lana Lang entering Lex's apartment complex and pressing 52, Lex's penthouse floor.

- - -

Her necklace flickering off the red light of the phone, Lucy laid a soft kiss on Jimmy's head. He was asleep, bare-chested, in the hotel room bed. Lucy grabbed her small suitcase, and after checking the hallway, tiptoed out. She didn't see Chloe walking slowly down the hall, watching her as she headed down the stairwell towards the lobby. Chloe turned her head to the closed door, frowning with mild disappointment. Lucy always was a runaway.

But her superpowered mind began to tingle and she turned to face the door, when realization hit her hard. Her breath fled, her knees buckled, and a tear ran down her cheek. Her stinging sadness quickly made way for putrid anger. As she tried to regain a normal breath rate, she heard the sound of squeaking springs from inside the room.

* * *

Director's Commentary: Originally, we didn't have so many Jimmy-Lucy scenes, but the chemistry between Aaron and Peyton List was amazing. The original script called for a very off-screen development, but this work ten times better. Also, it was great to have Alyson Hannigan reprise her role as "Willow Rosenberg." We only got her for a day, but it was all we needed. Joss, if you had anything to do with this, thanks. You too, Aly. 

Okay, the test audience reacted _very_ positively to 105, so the network green-lighted us through Episode 107, and now they're demanding the 108 script.

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: Chloe deals with the aftermath of Jimmy and Lucy. The team is dispatched to a nearby club, but something's off about Clark.

A/N: CONTESTS!!!

If you want to be made into a character on this series, it's very easy! Most of the names, places, etc. in these stories have relevance to Superman mythos or DC or whatever. The first reader to correctly name three will be Mary Sued or Harry Stued. I'll probably reopen the contest again.

(Sonriso) - So, it comes to my attention that the Smallvillians haven't yet been introduced to me, yet. I am Sonriso, the Herald of Sarcasm. I am deeply offended that (may Its name be hollow'd) has forbidden my visible presence. Since I'm sure you'll all capable portraitists, I would ask that you, right now, using a serif font ("Times New Roman" being my native race), type the caret symbol (Shift + 6), the underscore (Shift + -), then another caret. Behold, my visage! I like to denote my species as "punctusmiley." Through no fault of Creedog, I appear at the bottom of the majority of his stories, adding my two cents, and often coming up in debt.

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Tuesday, November 21, 2006. Finished Sunday, January 28, 2007. Updated Sunday, February 11, 2007.


	6. Episode 105: Treasured

Archangel Investigations: Treasured  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance  
Rating: TV-14 V S  
Language: English  
Summery: Chloe and Jimmy have a talk. Clark starts to enjoy his job.  
Spoilers: None if you're fairly caught up with the show. It doesn't refer to any episodes. It really helps to read _Champions of Kal-El_, though.

A/N: Dedicated to **BookWurm1**, because this is just what she called for in my last fic.

Also, we got word from the network that we needed to up the rating, so please be aware if you're watching with your children.

As you know, we're on a fairly lenient schedule, but Neilsen says were good enough to have a show every two to three weeks, so I'll keep the crack monkeys working.

By the way, even though I didn't ask for a review last time, I'm giving this one to you free, because a reader has favorited this story, and, even better, someone has put this on their review alert, which is enough feedback for me.

* * *

Episode 105: Treasured

She couldn't get the buttons on her black-and-white Houndstooth coat unfastened quickly enough. Freed from the binds of the garment, she yanked it off, tossing it to the ground behind her without a look back. The silky, powder blue blouse with a drooping neckline presented no buttons and was easily slipped off and tossed to the side. The zipper in the back of the navy blue skirt was swiftly lowered, and the skirt fell to the ground, where it was kicked across the floor. She sat on the bed, kicking her black high heels into the wall, scuff marks be damned. Her nimble fingers slipped under the waistband of her pantyhose and removed the artificial covering from the creamy skin of her legs.

Her round breasts were still supported by a sea foam-green brassiere, but that was hastily discarded, along with the lacy white briefs. Her seething expression lessened as she took a number of heavy breaths. Her head turned towards her closet, her shoulder-length blond hair momentarily obscuring her face. She walked with intention towards the shower, where she turned the red-ringed knob in the shower, bringing steaming hot water onto her body. It was a tad warmer that she usually preferred it, but tonight she never felt the need for cleansing so much. She ignored the pinkish tint resulting from the harsh temperature of the liquid. There were no towels hanging on the rod when she got out of the shower—it was laundry day—but a quick peek under the sink produced a still-new set of maroon towels with "Euryphaessa Hotel" embroidered into the fabric. She shaved her legs quickly. So quickly, in fact, that she nicked herself around the ankle, but thought nothing of it, as the blood transfusions shortened her healing time. Though, it had been more than twenty-four hours since her last injection, so one blood drop did slide down the side of her foot before a scab appeared.

From the closet, she pulled out a large red, flannel shirt, which she slipped on over her bare body. She pulled out a pair of white boxers shorts, a gag gift from her cousin; they had little crimson hearts on them. The oversized shirt covered them up, and she had to roll the cuffs up twice just to expose her fingers. Stepping into her rose-colored slippers, she journeyed to the bathroom, where she surveyed her now makeup-free face. Still sitting on the counter was a lipstick tube from Lillian's, still wrapped in plastic wrap. The plastic soon found its way into the tiny trashcan by the sink, and pursed pink lips became smiling scarlet ones.

Chloe's mind raced through a mental checklist. Lana was "out" again, as she often was during the night. She worked tirelessly during the day shift, so no one protested. And, often, these outings were business meetings with Lex, so no one could complain about her dedication to the firm. Pete and Lois were in the basement, unloading a shipment of weapons—high-velocity projectile weapons, according to their chatter—that they'd been waiting weeks for. And Clark was in his office, attempting to decipher Chloe's custom computer applications. He would have no more of the Lois-like screw-ups again. She had to hand it to the man's sense of purpose.

_- - - _

_30 minutes earlier…_

Jimmy peeked out the hotel room, looking very confused. It had been a fun night out with the guys at the pub, despite their constant teasing about him bringing a beautiful woman but letting her dance with every half-drunk idiot who approached her. Even the defensive comments about Lucy being Chloe's cousin fell on deaf ears. But Lucy came to his defense… by offering them each a dance, and they quickly shut up. If he had danced with Lucy, he must have been too wasted by then to remember. Of course, he had somehow appeared here, in the Euryphaessa, in Lucy's room. He could easily deduce what happened, even if his memory was a little fuzzy. He must have drunk too much, though he usually was better at pacing himself. In fact, his hangover was fairly mild.

The note that Lucy left him told him that what happened was a big mistake, and Jimmy agreed. He was crazy about Chloe, and Lucy knew that, and she was excited for him. She left early, hoping to make things easier for Jimmy, and Jimmy thanked her for that.

"Lucy left," came the last voice Jimmy wanted to hear at this particular moment.

"Chloe," he said, guiltily, and cursing himself for the tone. "Um…" he began to explain.

Chloe stood there in her dark blue skirt suit, the jacket unbuttoned casually, revealing her light blue shirt. Her hair was down. Her voice was near venomous, "Tell me, Jimmy, was it so hard not being with me _immediately_ that you had to go after the first girl that would take you home, even if she was my _cousin_, and on top of that, at the place where I _live and work?_"

"How did you…?"

"You're walking out of her room, Jimmy. Plus, I know things."

"Your psychic thing." Jimmy swore that Chloe could probably see his heart dropping.

"Clairvoyance is a bitch. I've heard it before."

Jimmy realized that there was no hope. Funny that the most monumentally royal screw-up that he would ever commit, he wouldn't remember. In desperation, he replied, "This is about Clark, isn't it?" Where the words came from he didn't know, but he really wished they hadn't come.

Chloe immediately snapped, "You've avoiding the discussion, Jimmy." Jimmy could have sworn that Chloe's eyes had taken on an orange tinge, like Clark's did before he activated his heat vision. He would have taken the crispifying over Chloe's furious glare. She finally added, with a harshly pensive tone, "But, yeah, it is. It has always been about Clark with me. I've been in love with Clark Kent from the moment I laid eyes on him. And, yeah, probably every relationship I've had has been about me trying to get over the Kansas farmboy with the body of steel and heart of gold. Not the least of all you."

Jimmy's breath was shallow, his muscles numb, his mouth dry, and his internal organs felt like they were necrotizing within him. His voice as low as a whisper, he said, with nary an ounce of strength, "You told me if I—"

Chloe powerfully interrupted him, dominantly but sympathetically, "And you did. And it's not your fault I'm choosing Clark over you. It's not anyone's fault. It's just that I am never not going to be in love with Clark. And that's not fair to you. Good-bye, Jimmy."

"But what about the Veronica Venus thing? We're still doing that, right?"

Her back to him, Chloe replied stoically, "Of course we are. See you at work tomorrow. We've got to start that story about Joanne Parker and Bill General."

"And lunch?" Jimmy had the distinct feeling of hanging over a cliff with precious few lifelines.

She did not turn around; she barely turned her head, "I just remembered. I have a prior commitment. How 'bout a rain check?" The last question held no sincerity.

"Chloe…"

"I know everything you're feeling, Jimmy." Somehow, the matter-of-factness emerged over the rest of her stormy emotions. "Maybe better than you do. It's too late." She hazarded one last glance at him over her shoulder.

Jimmy was a photographer. He knew things got smaller as they moved away from the camera. As Chloe got smaller, as she walked away, Jimmy could have sworn that he was the one moving away, the one falling over a ledge.

- - -

_Jimmy raced into Chloe's room, where she was putting a scarlet-colored desert robe on over her clothes. _

"_Chloe, where do you think you're going? We don't even know if you're okay!"_

_Chloe disregarded his statements as she grabbed a wooden staff out of the closet, "Jimmy, I've got to go help. This is bigger than us. I told you it was a bad time." _

"_But…" _

"_Jimmy, I can't do this with you now. Clark needs me." She tried to correct herself, "The Champions of Kal-El need me."_

"_Chloe…" _

_She spun to face him, and sharply replied, "Jimmy, our time will come, okay?" _

"_I…" _

_Her back turned, her eyes diverted, she asked, "Wait for me." _

"_Just promise me you'll come back." _

_She struggled with the words. "I promise."_

- - -

As she descended in staircase into the lobby, she did a quick scan of the room to make sure Lois and Pete were still in the basement. So, she boldly walked through the lobby toward the manager's offices, the red flannel shirt covering her to mid-thigh.

Clark's office door was open, so she knocked on it as she leaned halfway in. "Hey, Clark, it's late, I'm going to bed, but, um, I had a question…"

Clark moved his tired eyes from the computer monitor to the half-dressed woman in his doorway. His eyes widened a little and his jaw went slack. "Is that one of my shirts?" he asked.

Pretending to be irked at his change of subject, she looked down at herself. She feigned awkwardness; she gripped the collar of the shirt even though she had intentionally left the two top buttons opened, and pulled down on the base of the shirt, even though she knew exactly how much leg she was showing. She sheepishly admitted, "Yeah… remember when I made you get rid of a bunch of your stuff before moving out here? I kinda saw an opportunity for a cheap sleep shirt. I would have asked, but it would have been awkward, because…"

Clark had yet to rip his eyes away from Chloe's lithe form. "Chloe, I would've just given it to you. In fact, I kind of hid a couple for myself."

She chuckled. "I know," she commented ironically.

"Do I have any secrets?"

"For now." She looked into his eyes.

"Chloe?" She didn't answer, just smiled and bit her bottom lip. "What is it?"

- - -

Pete laid the heavy box of darts on the counter in the lobby. "Man, am I psyched about this bad boy," he commented, lifting a spring-loaded, crossbow-like contraption.

"I know," Lois replied as she lugged a chain weapon over her shoulder. "But I bet Clark's gonna make us _practice_ with them before he lets us take them out in the field. What's up with that?"

Pete scoffed. "I bet Intergang never has to practice using their weapons before they get to use them."

"Sometimes it pays to be the bad guys," Lois admitted. "So, it looks like we'll have to step up our efforts on the Clark-Chloe project. Our subtle nudges are having zero effect. You know, Chloe has always dug the fact that Clark's a superhero. I thought by making her watch him in action the other day would get her hot? Zilch."

Pete, pretending to aim the weapon, added, "Clark's got a huge knight-in-shining-armor complex. I've been enlightening him for the past few days to save Chloe. You think he'd at least been making googly eyes at her." He made a game buzzer-like sound.

Lois sighed dejectedly, "Damn, I wonder if she and Jimmy are getting back together."

"Ya think? I mean, I've met him. He's always up for a game of b-ball, and that's a check in my book, but Chloe's so too good for him. What does she see in him?"

"She sees interest, which, given her life in Lana's shadow…" Lois paused, before commenting, "Hey, I just had a brainstorm…" She turned her head toward Clark's office. The lobby was set up so that she couldn't really see into his office, though the lights were visible, so Clark had to be working on his computer… or something.

- - -

Chloe sat in his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist and the rolling chair, which caused the flannel shirt to ride up, exposing her whimsical underwear. Not that Clark could see them. His eyes were closed on account of the fact that she was pressing her lips hard against his, her fingers entangled with his hair. He started kissing back and his hands lightly gripped her waist, holding her body flush with his.

He finally pulled away suddenly and sputtered, "Wha…? Chloe, what's going on…?"

Chloe stately plainly, "Clark, I have feelings for you. I know you have feelings for me."

"How did you…? Did you read me?" At most, he looked mildly offended.

"Clark," she stated, her eyes downcast and her hand pressed lightly against his chest, "I couldn't risk this being my last chance with you. But I also couldn't risk messing up our relationship, and our company, by coming onto you if you weren't interested. Forgive me?"

"Of course," Clark replied, petting her hair. He smiled. "Thanks, though… for coming on to me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, probably for the same reasons. It's just after what I went through with Lana, I wasn't sure I wanted to risk it." He licked his lips, cringed, and wiped off the rest of the transfer from Chloe's lipstick.

She giggled and apologized. Her empathy picked up a rather sudden surge of emotions, but before she could process them, she found Clark's lips pressing fiercely against hers. Surprised with his audacity at first, she quickly got over it and kissed back. While her hands were planted firmly against the back of his head, his hands were roaming with incredible speed. She pressed her forehead against his, breaking this kiss, their eyes meeting with similar expressions. In the blink of an eye, Clark untangled himself from Chloe's embrace and repositioned them so that he was now carrying her. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his neck. Grinning devilishly, he started to carry her to the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To my room. But, if you want, we could stay in my office?" He said, motioning towards the desk.

Chloe's eyes shot open. She turned her head to look at the open blinds into the lobby. She didn't see Lois or Pete, but they could come up from the basement at any point. "I think your room'd be better," she finally managed to get out.

Clark moved too quickly for Chloe to reconsider, not in superspeed, but briskly just the same. As he carried her through the foyer area, Chloe noted that the door to the basement was open, but a quick survey of the expansive room showed no other presences, so she praised her doubly-good luck.

As soon as they were out of sight, Pete and Lois dissolved back into sight.

"That was a close one," Pete commented.

"On the contrary, that was a bulls-eye." The two of them high-fived.

- - -

As Clark's hand pushed her sleep shirt further and further up as he forcefully kissed her on his bed, Chloe thought things were moving strangely fast, but her emotions kept pushing this idea further and further back. As his hand glided up and down her sides underneath her shirt, his pager began to buzz on the desk. Chloe tilted her head at the sound. Clark took this as an invitation to start laying kisses on her neck, completely ignoring the buzzing. "Night club," Chloe muttered as the information came to her.

Chloe pushed him off and sat at the edge of the bed, grabbing Clark's laptop and connecting it to Clark's phone line. Her telephone program came up, the CallerID alerting her that the call was coming from _Atlantis_, a local nightclub. Clark took this opportunity to push her hair aside, giving his lips access to the back of her neck. With his other hand, he began to unbutton her shirt, starting from the bottom. Chloe pressed a button to turn on sound. A man deep voice frantically muttered, "—God! They're attacking us. It's like they've got superpowers. They're… freezing stuff! And people. Is there anyone there?!" Pete's voice echoed through the speakers, "Don't worry. We'll be there in five minutes."

Chloe spun around when she felt Clark lick the back of her ear. Looking him straight in the eye, she noticed the faint red glow is his eyes. After a brief pause, she smiled devilishly and pushed Clark down onto the bed, her hands clawing at his invulnerable chest. Lustily, she told him, "Go save them."

He was met with an incredulous stare. "Why?"

Practically purring, she answered, "'Cause you _know_ that superhero thing really gets me hot."

Clark grinned evilly before he disappeared right from under her. Chloe fell a few inches onto the soft bed as her face changed to cautious relief.

Downstairs, Pete hung up the phone, moving to get his gear. Before he took two steps, a rush of wind blew through the room. Clark stood at the front doors, dressed in his Archangel outfit, with a black shirt in place of his normal blue one, and faded jeans in place of navy slacks. Pete soon realized that he too had been dressed, as had Lois.

Lois surveyed her outfit. "Whoa, Smallville, did you actually dress me, too? Never thought you had the _cajones_."

"You hear about the job?" Pete asked.

"I'm rearin' to go, Petey Boy. By the way, nice toys; go ahead and take 'em with you if you want. And, you'd better hurry or you'll miss all the fun." With this, he zipped out.

"Does he seem off to you?" Lois questioned.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, my father always said," Pete replied, loading his gun with darts and he paced toward the door, soon with Lois is tow.

- - -

Chloe studied the smear of lipstick on her finger. It sparkled in the light of Clark's nightstand lamp.

Lana's voice came from the doorway, "Chloe?"

Still kneeling on the bed, Chloe turned and replied, "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. Uh, some potential work that I wanted to drop off to Clark. Is he out?"

Chloe was still distracted. "Yeah, he went on a job at the _Atlantis_ nightclub." She added with worry, "I think he might have gotten a small dose of Red-K."

"Uh-oh. How?"

"There may be some in this lipstick. He might have ingested it. Hopefully, it'll pass through him."

Lana's tact wore out. "Chloe, you're an investigative journalist, right? What would be your first instinct be if you were to walk into a man's bedroom and see a woman on said man's bed… wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a half-buttoned-up men's shirt… looking rather disheveled and exhausted?"

Chloe suddenly became aware of her surroundings. "Nothing happened," she commented automatically. She began to button up the shirt.

In a jocular tone, the brunette replied, "Because it's Clark's bedroom, I'm inclined to believe you."

Chloe paused and surveyed Lana. "Speaking of being an investigative journalist," she began confidently, "what would _your_ first instinct be if you were to run into a woman coming back home at…" Chloe turned her head to read the bedside clock, "2:43 in the morning, wearing a cocktail dress, her hair hastily redone," she said emphasizing the word "hastily" as she got up from the bed. "With a hickey…" she added, brushing Lana's hair aside, "…and missing her bra," she finished, knocking the strap of her shoulder.

Lana was quick to answer, "You're not wearing a bra, either."

Chloe folded her arms, realizing the top three buttons were still undone. There was an awkward silence, as Chloe and Lana stood facing one another. Then, Chloe prompted, "How 'bout we never had this conversation?"

"Works for me," Lana answered quickly. The two exited Clark's suite, Chloe heading for her own room, Lana hurrying the other direction toward the elevator.

- - -

Falling against the wall, Clark's skin was blue-tinged, but it quickly warmed to its natural color. "Whoo, that was a rush." He sent a blast of heat vision at the attacking meta-human, a short teenager with spiky blond hair, who seemed to only relish in the punishment. Clark took a large piece of wood from the already destroyed stage and threw it hard at the assailant, who merely held out his arms and watched the frozen board shatter against his body.

Two other enemies appeared to challenge Clark: an olive-skinned, dark-haired youth, and a tall, dark-skinned, bald man of at least thirty years, both displaying similar cold powers. Clark grinned, his eyes glowing red, as he leapt high into the air, gliding up to the ceiling and taking hold of the scaffolding. His three opponents all launched cold blasts toward him, but he quickly launched himself downward. The resulting shockwave resulting from his landing feet-first on the ground knocked the three metas over, as well as shattering the outside windows.

From outside, Pete and Lois watched as the windows blew out, arriving just in time to have their car lurch from Clark's shockwave. They raced in, Pete entering first with his gun raised. He was too slow, however, and a woman with fire-engine red hair froze him with a mere flick of the wrist. As he lay shivering on the ground, Lois called out to Clark in the adjoining room, and a wide-angle heat blast brought Pete back into commission. Lois's hair frizzed, however. She took no note of it and instead swung her ball-and-chain weapon over her head and launched it at the female meta, who held out her hands and chilled the metal ball, which knocked her backwards because the cold blast was not strong enough to actually stop the ball's momentum. Pete raced into the next room, where he aimed and shot three darts, hitting each of the metas. The black man was hit from behind, in the center of his back. He fell to his knees screaming, his arms clawing at the unreachable dart.

The second, black-haired meta casually pulled the dart from his thigh and sent a cold blast at Pete, who was plucked from the target area by Clark. He left Pete standing behind his attacker, who was quickly shot point-blank with the dart gun. Still undeterred, the meta ripped the dart out of his neck and spun to strike Pete with his arm. Pete was too quick this time, though the meta's arm collided with the gun and sent it crashing to the ground. Pete, without pausing, grabbed a wooden stick from the ground and clubbed his enemy's knee, causing the man to fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, Clark endured another cold blast from the blond kid. His raised his arms to refreeze the recovering Clark. He didn't count on Clark blowing him across the room into the adjacent wall and holding him there through the sheer strength of his breath. He also didn't expect to find himself immobilized from the neck down by a sheet of ice. Lois, who had since entered, now had Pete's kneeling adversary wrapped in a chain, but the bonds were quickly frozen and starting to crack under pressure. Pete and Lois exchanged looks. Both spun around: Lois's leg in a wide arc, Pete's club the same; and the guy went flying three feet and landing flat on his back, the iced chains shattering under him. He passed out.

The remaining meta, with a dart in his back, screamed as he continued to claw at his back. Clark zipped in front on his and swung his arm, missing the man's nose by millimeters. He laid a soft tap on his nose, and the man, unbalanced, spun and landed face-first on the ground. Clark surveyed his work and turned to his partners. "Talk to the cops will ya? I gotta split." Without waiting for a response, he disappeared.

"He seem kind of funny to you?" Pete asked.

Lois considered his question. "No, can't tell a joke to save his life. But he was acting weird. 'Course, I know what he's splitting _for_."

Pete returned her grin. There were a few unconscious victims lying on the ground, though telltale singeing of their clothes alerted Lois to the fact that Clark had prevented hypothermia, and she went straight to work caring for them until the paramedics arrive, who complimented Lois on her army-taught first aid skills. The police arrived with them, with a tall, short-haired woman in the lead, who approached Pete, seeing Lois preoccupied with the medics.

"I'm Captain Sawyer, with the Metropolis Police Department. Would you mind letting me know what happened?"

Pete answered, "We're with Archangel Investigations—"

"Yes, I saw the story in the paper," Capt. Sawyer quickly cut in. She motioned for Pete to continue.

"We got a call from the manager or the owner or somebody. He said that several—it turned out to be four—metahuman—"

"Excuse me?" she cut in again, as she scribbled in her notebook.

"Metahumans," he repeated, "it's the name we've assigned to these mutated humans. These four people were exposed to some type of mutagen that gave them some sort of freezing ability. Um, usually what happens is Lex Luthor—"

"—takes them to his labs at LexCorp to study them. Many are sent to Belle Reeve. We're aware. He set up a deal with the mayor. He sends us reports and apparently does all the work out of his own pocket."

Pete looked surprised at this revelation. "I didn't know that, but I guess that's a good thing. Usually…" Pete hesitated to recall Lana's alias, "Liz deals with Lex."

"Liz…?"

"McCallum," he replied.

"And you are…?"

"Bill General. And my associate is Joanne Parker." Pete showed her a business card. She made no move to take it, so Pete slipped it back into his pocket.

"Did…" Sawyer paused to read her notes, "Mr. Jordan Elliot also assist you?"

"Yeah, he did. He was first on the scene. He had some important business to attend to afterwards."

The captain nodded and put away her notebook. "Well, Mr. General, it was a pleasure to meet you. You've done good work, and I believe the owner would like to speak with you."

"Thank you," Pete replied, smiling with relief.

Capt. Saywer ripped a sheet out of her notebook, and handed it to an associate. "Give these to Eric for a background check."

The owner, a squat, balding man, quickly approached Pete, holding both hands out to shake Pete's. "Thank you! Thank you! My club was almost ruined!"

"Hey, it's what we do."

The owner, Chester Fields, scampered around his club, lamenting, "Oh, this is a mess. It's going to cost me a fortune to rebuild. Oh, and we'll be closed for months!"

"Sir?"

Fields simply pulled a checkbook out of his breast pocket, scribbled on it, and gave it to Pete. "Here. I know it's probably a lot less that you would usually charge, but I'll have to pay you the difference after I reopen." Pete wasn't listening, his eyes bulging. Lois came to see what was making Pete speechless, and became slack-jawed herself. Pete quickly thanked Fields for his generosity, who merely reached into his pocket. "Listen, I don't know how else to thank you. Here're free passes to my club. How many do you want?"

"Five should be more than enough…" Pete replied, as Lois took a stack of at least ten.

"Do you want anything to drink? For you, it's an open bar."

"Hell, yeah!" Lois scrambled over to the bar and started banging on the table.

Pete surveyed this and commented, "Bad idea. You'll go out of business."

"For tonight," he adds, calling across the room.

"Well, better take advantage of it." She continued to slam her fist on the counter and scream, "Hey, bartender, quit hiding. You've got a customer."

The bartender, a tall but frightened looking thirty-ish man, meekly poked his head up from behind the counter.

Lois wasted no time in ordering. "I need five tequila shots and an appletini." The bartender gave her a perplexed look, to which she replied flatly, "I'm a complex woman. Deal with it."

She alternated between nursing her martini and downing her tequila with only a small twitch of the head. "Here, since this is all on the house, you should at least get a good tip." She merely handed him a business card with an extension added onto it in purple ink. "It's only tip I give."

"Guess I'm the designated driver," Pete commented, turning toward the owner.

- - -

Chloe sneered at the lipstick tube and held it up to toss it in the bathroom wastebasket, but at the last moment, thought better of it, and slipped it into a small plastic bag and hiding it under the sink when she heard rustling from the next room.

Still in her flannel shirt, she walked into Clark's bedroom, his hallway door left recklessly open. Seeing him scanning the room with squinted eyes, she called, "Hey, Big Guy, don't get your briefs in a knot. I just stepped out to freshen up. So, you neutralize the bad guys?"

Clark zipped over to take her in his arms. "Yeah, you should have been there. It was great. But now I'm all riled up." He took a sharp intake of breath, but continued to leer.

Chloe played along. "Yeah, must have been quite a rush." Clark grimaced, but tried to shake it off. He stared at Chloe's lips, still covered in crimson lipstick, and fiercely kissed her, but pulled back, his face in desperation.

"Yeah, I borrowed this from Lana. The other stuff had red kryptonite in it. "You look like your withdrawing."

Clark didn't answer, just grunted, and kissed her hard again. He fell to his knees, pulling Chloe with him. "It was about the Red-K, wasn't it?"

"No!" Clark screamed breathily. "Just makes it better." He struggled with the words.

"No, Clark, it's just a drug. You don't need it."

Clark kissed her again, this time more softly, but she pulled back. "Clark, I washed it off. There's no more. I got rid of it."

"No…"

"I'm sorry, Clark. But I'm here for you."

"You don't under—"

Chloe shushed him while holding his head into her arms, stroking his hair. His eyes grew heavy and she helped him into bed until he fell asleep completely. She tried to walk away, but found Clark's hand around her wrist. While not painfully squeezing her, his grip was iron firm and Chloe knew no amount of prying would ever open his hand, so she lay down beside him.

- - -

The sunlight shown brightly in her face, and Lana rolled over in bed to check the clock. It was nearly 10:30 in the morning, yet Lana still felt exhausted. She had gone to bed close to three and usually never felt this tired after so much sleep. She was kind of surprised that her alarm hadn't woken her promptly at six-thirty.

She slipped out of bed, finding herself in a black, strapless tank and black jeans. This was neither the cocktail dress she wore to meet Lex in earlier last night nor the pajama set she kept in her top drawer. Granted, she was fairly tired after meeting Chloe in the hallway, and must have crashed, because she hardly remembered going to bed.

Lana was a very neat person, and her drawers were meticulously organized, so Lana figured Lois must have put this ensemble on top in her pajamas drawer—it wouldn't be the first time Lois had messed with Lana's organizational habits. Still the clothes were rather uncomfortable to sleep in and Lana had the most terrible itch on her lower back.

"The Archangel—Revealed!" exclaimed the front page of the _Daily Planet_. Veronica Venus's byline shown underneath, with Jimmy's high-quality but low-light torso shot of "Jordan Elliot." It gave an aura of mystique. Chloe beamed at her "name" in the paper.

"Continuing your dream," Clark noted. Chloe just smiled and nodded, looking down at the paper again. Lois and Pete also added their congratulations.

"I, for one," Lex stated, "think it's great. Plus, word on the street is that the _Atlantis_ owner is proclaiming on mountaintops about the saviors at Archangel Investigations. There's a very visible police investigation. I even had to hold a press conference this morning." He turned to Chloe, "Hey, I had my lab look at some of that lipstick you mentioned. Didn't find any red kryptonite in it. Do you have your stick? It could be a packaging fluke."

"It's missing," Chloe admitted.

"What?"

Chloe tried not to look at Clark. "I hid it and now it's gone."

"Chloe…" Clark began.

"I know Clark. I trust you."

"Clark," Lex stated carefully, "I trust you, too. For the most part. But when you're on red kryptonite, you're not yourself…"

"He didn't do it, Lex."

"Chloe—"

"I _know_ he didn't do it," she insisted.

Lex nodded and turned his head toward the staircase, where Lana walked down, in a business casual outfit and a smile.

"I know you set your own hours…" Lex began, looking at his watch.

"I overslept. It was an accident," Lana replied tersely.

Chloe took a step back, but Lex didn't move. His voice softened, "Lana, you've got bags under your eyes. Did you not sleep well?"

Lana stared blankly at his obvious concern. "I must not've."

Chloe tried to study the scene, but felt her empathy blocked. As powerful as her empathy was, it could be consciously resisted by strong-minded individuals. The rest of the team practiced for years for the sake of privacy. Chloe did not fault them, gladly admitting her own too-curious nature.

"Anyway," Lex continued, turning back to Chloe, "I'd do a random sample, but I got word from my attorneys this morning. I can't continue using my R&D money or my laboratories to study the lipstick. It seems LuthorCorp owns the company that does testing for the manufacturer, Bailly Cosmetics. There's a conflict of interest between it and LexCorp."

"So that's it?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. I've got a dozen feds breathing down my neck, looking for evidence that my father and I are in cahoots, monopolizing the market. It's not worth the risk, unfortunately."

Pete prompted, "You think your dad could be involved? Maybe putting some Red-K in random lipstick tubes."

Lex chuckled. "As amusing as it would be for my dad to use cosmetics in his nefarious plots, I still wouldn't give it more than 50-50 odds. Only a fraction of the meteor rock in Smallville is red. I had my enviro teams scour the town, so there's few remnants of your home planet left, Clark. Though, we weren't looking for the red stuff. Anyway, I don't think I can trick my dad into revealing anything of this magnitude. We'll have to play it by ear."

- - -

Chloe rubbed her head. An hour ago, a four-foot-long white rat attacked a Starbucks at the corner of Fifth and Strouse. Chloe had received the vision, and now was trying to silence the hammers in her head. A rush of wind prompted her to call out, "Clark? I'm glad you're here." She turned around.

"I could hear you groaning from Concord Avenue. I'm guessing you're overdue for an O-positive cocktail?"

"Pretty please," she replied mock-sweetly.

Clark slipped off his duster, which Chloe noticed he laid down softly over a chair, confirming her suspicions that he liked the oddly-colored coat more than he let on. She never had understood his fashion sense.

Clark comfortably seated himself on her bed. Chloe thought that Clark would be more awkward with such a gesture as sitting down on a female's bed.

He cleared his throat to say, "Chloe, about last night…"

"I know… You were on the little red X-pill. Friendship and professional relationship fully intact."

Clark bit his lower lip and nodded. "We keep getting ourselves in these situations, don't we?" He had yet to pull out the supplies, but left her nightstand drawer open.

"Someone up there's got a sense of humor, don't They?"

"You're telling me. I'm just glad our friendship weathered another Red-K spell."

"Oh, for God's sake!" Lois said, appearing from thin air, Pete by her side.

Chloe jumped up from the bed, "Hey! How long have you been standing there?" She subtly glanced toward the nightstand where they transfusion kit lay, but neither Pete's nor Lois's attention seemed pointed there.

"Long enough to know you're pulling the 'Let's be friends' card. Again!"

"And, Clark, you're totally accepting it. Don't you ever learn?" Pete added.

Chloe shot back, "Hey, how is this any of your business?"

"When it's my little cousin starting to run away from the love of her life."

Chloe attempted to respond, but her mouth couldn't formulate words. "Clark," she finally stated, "how did you not hear them standing there?"

Lois answered first, "I figured out how to dampen the sound in my can't-see-me aura."

Pete jumped, "And, getting back on topic. You know how easily distracted Lois is." Lois turned her head to shoot a dirty look at Pete, who didn't notice. "Clark, are you really going to stand there and tell Chloe that the only time you would ever consider being with Chloe is when you're on Red-K?"

Chloe's face trembled when Clark didn't respond right away. "Look, it's easier this way."

"No, it's easier this way," Lana's voice forcefully claimed as she appeared in the doorway. "Clark, Chloe, I want you two to start making out _right now_." Her tone was strong and leaving no room for contestation. Clark and Chloe faced one another, and after pausing briefly, met in a passionate kiss.

"Whoa," Lois remarked, "why didn't we think to recruit Princess Persuasive?"

Pete pondered the embrace. "I thought Clark and Chloe were fairly resistant to your super-voice."

"People tend to resist less against things they actually want to do. I realized that for Clark to get infected by Red-K lipstick, he'd have to let Chloe kiss him pretty hard." She smiled.

Pete raised his hand, and Lana's met his. "Our work here is done," Lana commented as the three exited the room, leaving Clark and Chloe lip-locked.

Shortly after, Chloe broke the kiss, but remained close to Clark. "Clark?"

"Yeah?" he answered breathily.

"My head is _killing_ me."

Clark laughed and told her to lie on the bed.

"I like where this is heading," she teased. Clark, pulling the equipment out, turned to face her. Their eyes locked, and Chloe at that moment didn't need her empathy to understand what was happening.

- - -

Lana plopped herself down on her magenta-sheeted king bed and opened her laptop. Oddly, her background had been changed from a horse theme to Wiccan insignia. Also, she noted her battery was nearly dead. Opening her internet browser, she also found her homepage moved from Google to The Church of Wicca. She cursed the "impenetrable" malware software Chloe had installed. Apparently one of the sites Willow had shown her had given her something. Checking her bookmarks, she found hundreds of new black magic sites indexed, meticulously organized into folders. At least it was a _helpful_ virus.

She scratched her back again, causing her shirt to ride up, expositing a small, black ink dot on her lower back.

* * *

Director's Commentary: I had to promise Allison Mack I'd never make her do this again. And, yes, that was 100 percent Allison. Sorry it was so dark. It was in her contract. But well worth the rating hike. 

And, no, we did not steal this storyline from "Crimson." Ask the network. Our scripts were submitted at the same time. I know the resemblance is uncanny, but it's true. You've got to hand it to Aaron for bringing it during the Chlimmy breakup scene on both shows. The man is inexhaustible. Luckily, we've got him tied for more episodes.

Episode 106, which had a working title of "Roofie," has been very apty rechristened "Siren" after some much-needed script rewrites. It will be a duly needed Pete-centric. Episode 107, entitled "Helen," is in the works, though it's not what you think. What it will be is fairly Lois-centric and "crowded." That's all I can say, and that's all the spoilers you're gonna get on the episode. The network is still mulling over 108, and after some script changes, it will hopefully be approved for airing.

I'm sure you all recognized Jason Alexander as "Chester Fields." It was our first experiment in stunt casting and I think it paid off. The four fire metas were played, in order of appearance, by Matt Barr ("Jack Frosty"), Jonathan Rhys ("Hielo"), Roger R. Cross ("Blizzard"), and Alexz Johnson ("Blue"). The bartender was played by Josh Randall, who had the honor of playing the bartender in an _Angel_ episode. And Jill Teed resumes her part as "Capt. Maggie Sawyer."

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: Pete meets up with an old flame. Clark and Chloe go out on their first date. Capt. Saywer does some research.

A/N: Writing TV shows is fun.

(Sonriso) - I'm fairly sure I passed out from all the Hot!Chloe in the first scene. Clark is the luckiest damn bastard on the f---ing planet. Which reminds, me add "L" to the rating.

©2006, 2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Thursday, December 28, 2006. Finished Saturday, February 10, 2007. Updated Monday, May 7, 2007.


	7. Episode 106: Siren

Archangel Investigations: Siren  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance  
Rating: TV-PG D S  
Language: English  
Summery: AAI gets a visitor, and she's a blast from Pete's past. Clark and Chloe go out to dinner.  
Spoilers: General plots for late S1, late S2, early S3, late S5, and S6, but nothing not yet seen. Honestly, this series is AU.

A/N: Type in "Angelika Libera" into IMDB. Got that image? Okay, you can read the story now.

* * *

Episode 106: Siren

Lex stood with his father above the 33.1 complex. "Well, it appears our last breakout was doubly productive. It was a huge gain for Archangel Investigations, _and_ we got to test our 'trump card.'" He peered down, where several scientists were doing tests on a bright red crystal.

Lionel smiled self-satisfactorily. "Indeed? So, which one of our red products brought out the beast?"

"The lipstick."

"I had no idea your friend Clark was a transvestite," Lionel goaded with a straight face.

Lex's response was dry. "Chloe was wearing it. It appears to have been transferred somehow."

Lionel muddled over this. "Interesting. That does leave the cause-and-effect relationship unclear, though." His words continued to wander, "On the one hand, perhaps Miss Sullivan stood too close to Mr. Kent, and transfer occurred for obvious reasons, which would explain the prolonged effect." The hypothesis was stated with doubt. "Or… perhaps you were wrong about romances muddying up the waters of the detective business."

"I was with Clark and Chloe yesterday, and I detected no change in their relationship. If anything… compromising did occur, it seems Chloe let her insecurities get the best of her."

Lionel jumped on top of that. "Ah, yes, I concur. Miss Sullivan does have a weak spot there. I seem to recall a certain Mr. Olsen, a photographer at the _Planet_, was to be distracting her."

Sarcastically, he replied, "Well, Dad, I don't have the whole story on that. You see, neither Chloe nor I are much for the girl talk. Perhaps next time I have a meeting with Lana, I'd be able to coax it from her."

Lionel tried to sound surprised, "And how might you do that?"

"Dad, you trained me better than that, to have so little faith in your creation. I'll figure it out."

"You seem to be meeting with Miss Lang quite a bit," he commented pensively.

The response was calculated. "She's turned out to be shrewder than I realized at first. I hope to mentor her a bit."

"Mentor," Lionel baited.

"Yes, Dad, Lana and I _did_ have a prior romantic relationship. But I assure you, that our present relationship is nothing but professional."

"Good to hear," Lionel said, mostly sincere. "You wouldn't want to eat where you…well…"

"Metaphor taken, Dad," Lex answered, and changed the subject, "So, tell me, have there been any subjects giving you grief recently?"

Lionel just grinned at the question.

- - -

_Away from the chaos of the praying mantis-like creatures being led into intergalactic jail transports, Lex pulled Lana aside. _

"_Lana, I never got a chance to really apologize to you about earlier." _

"_Lex," Lana replied venomously, "you locked me in a closet! You completely disrespected my wishes." _

"_I was trying to keep you safe!"_

"_Lex, I can handle myself. I don't need you or anyone else to keep me safe!" Lana declared with exasperation. _

"_You have to understand—"_

_Lana was quick to cut him off. "If you're about to give me some sappy story about how you've lost so much of your family, it's not going to work." Lex looked taken aback, but Lana finished, "Lex, I have been there for you as you struggle with your family issues, but you're using them as a crutch. You won't be able to get close to anyone if you don't trust them." _

"_That's funny coming from you," Lex bit back. "You don't trust anyone. Least of all me. I myself have fought and struggled to gain what little of your trust I have. C'mon, Lana, I try to get close to you, and you back off, spouting some line about how your parents died when you were three. As I recall, the only thing that kept you and Clark apart was that he wouldn't let you in on his secret. Well, you know it now, and you're not even throwing him a significant look. Face it; we're both screwed up." _

"_We'd be the perfect couple. Yet somehow it's not working." _

_Lex's__face dropped at this. "Lana, no. Don't you __**dare**__ run from this." _

"_Lex, it's over. I can't do this anymore." She spun around and walked toward the group, further and further away from Lex. _

_- - - _

Outside the hotel, across the deserted street, stood Pete and Lois, in full costume, as Jimmy prepared his camera.

Pete was posing without shame, continually asking if he "should" take off his trench coat, exposing the white muscle shirt underneath. For the past week, he had doubled his regiment of weight-lifting for this very occasion.

Lois, on the other hand, patiently waited for Jimmy to finish with Pete. She showed no enthusiasm for the shoot, though when she thought no one was looking, she subtly pulled up on the straps of her bra.

Across the street, Chloe paced up and down the ten-foot path she was wearing into the sidewalk, with a notepad in hand as she mumbled to herself. "Bill General is an expert in his field, which is weapons." She visibly cringed, but continued, "… his field in weaponry. He handles… he _wields_ every blade as if he were born to hold it… grasp it… handle it… born to have it in his hand…" She groaned in frustration.

From the stairwell, Clark calmly smirked as he watched her with awe. As Pete again asked for a moment to adjust his coat, Jimmy chanced a look back at Chloe, who acknowledged him with a neutral expression before turning her eyes back to Clark.

"So…" Jimmy began, "does that mean you 'n' C.K.…" He trailed off, and Chloe answer was silence. Jimmy nodded with understanding. He turned around, and in an upbeat voice, called out, "Okay, Pete, last round. I'm still not satisfied with our Miss Parker shots."

- - -

The expansive chamber was dark. Her employer liked it that way. So, the young woman simply sat back in her cushy seat, brushing her collar-length, mahogany-brown hair back. She was very beautiful, with creamy white skin and striking Mediterranean features. She grasped the crystal of her neck, feeling the spiritual energy within it. She began to doze, needing a nap; she had a long night ahead of her.

- - -

Lois and Pete sat behind the front desk, restless as a pair of bored schoolchildren. Chloe stood before them, wearing a strapless, calf-length periwinkle-blue dress and putting on earrings as she spoke to them, "Clark and I are really looking forward to this dinner. Thanks so much for holding down the fort." Neither of the two would admit it, but she was striking a very motherly pose.

"Yeah, yeah," Lois replied, "cut to the chase. Who gets to be in charge?"

"Pete," Chloe simply replied.

"Yes!" Pete cheered.

"What? Why does he get to be boss? Come on, cuz, where's the family loyalty?"

Patting down her immaculate hair, the blonde replied, "Oh, there's family loyalty. You just happen to owe me for stealing Will Everett."

"You were like ten! And I didn't steal him. I just got caught kissing him. Nothing came of it."

"It was at my _birthday party_, Lois; and I really liked him. So you're second-in-command for once in your life."

Before Lois could counter, Clark walked in, wearing a blue suit. She took that moment to ask him, "Hey, boss, who's in charge tonight?"

Clark echoed Chloe's decision, "Pete." He slipped on a pair of black-framed glasses.

Lois cursed, "Yeah, I forgot you can hear everything in the tri-state area. You're so whipped."

"You called me 'boss.' I knew you were up to something. And I can hear her from a lot farther."

"Can you hear _me_ from afar?" Lois wondered.

"Assuming I wanted to." They traded smirks.

"Clark," Chloe prompted briskly, "reservations are for eight, and we're driving."

"I could—"

There would be no compromise. "I spent forty-five minutes on my hair. We're driving." She dangled her keys for emphasis.

Pete called out, "Hey, Clark, what's with the specs?"

Chloe answered, "I'm going out with Clark Kent, not Jordan Elliot. Like I'd really date my boss."

- - -

Sawyer tapped her foot as she stood above Eric Yin, a crime lab technician. "So, what did you find on those names I gave you?"

"I'm betting they're all aliases. I ran the pictures through FID, but came back inconclusive. Photographer thinks he's an artist, and didn't give us straight-ahead shots."

"Didn't we pay an obscene sum of money to send you to some profiling workshop?"

Yin leaned back in his chair, "It was money well spent. Let's see what magic I can conjure. Witnesses describe Bill General as an enthusiastic fighter. A daredevil. So, I'm positive it's a reference to General Bill."

"And he's…?"

"Not a big basketball fan, huh? General Bill is Bill Coltrane, the original owner of the Metropolis Generals. That limits our search to about 50 of the males in the Metropolis area." Sawyer just nodded. "Jordan Elliot, it has to have some significance to him, but since we know he's such a reclusive guy, it's going to be a personal hero or role model, maybe even family member. He's a vigilante, so chances are the namesake _isn't_ a criminal. As for Joanne Parker, female vigilantes are very rare. If they have an alias at all, it's ought to be a famous feminist."

"And…?"

"I figured you'd be up to date on that," he said carefully. Without a response from Sawyer, he continued, "I can't find any record of any famous Joanne Parkers. So, she must have deliberately chosen a common name. Though, Elizabeth McCallum intrigues me. McCallum is not that common of a surname. It must have significance. So I did a little genealogy search. There were a number of McCallums in the Smallville-Granville area for most of the nineteenth century. There weren't any Elizabeth, but I found one name that had 'Elizabeth' as middle name. In fact, all the females on her father's side of the family have 'Elizabeth' as a middle name. The name was Lana Lang."

"So?"

"Well, her name came up in connection with a name you've got flagged. Chloe Sullivan?"

Det. Sawyer's mouth curled into a smile. "Well, I'll be damned." She scribbled down something on the sheet of paper. "This will give you access to File 193806. I want you to track down as many people as you can related to that file."

Yin studied the paper. "You're the boss."

- - -

The ride so far had been quiet. Chloe drove.

"So," she began, "we're really trying this." It sounded lame in her ears.

"Yeah," Clark replied, no more coolly.

"I mean," she continued, "we never know until we try."

"I agree," he said instantly.

"I mean, it's not going to be a piece of cake trying to have a relationship." She stumbled over the last word.

Clark replied quickly, "It never is."

"No," Chloe agreed. "But we work together…"

"I'm sort of your boss." When she turned her head, he added, "But not really."

"Jordan is."

"Jordan is," he echoed. "Plus, there's Lana."

Her head shot to the right again.

"I just meant, it'll be weird, like it was when she and Lex got together."

"Oh, that's a valid point," she backpedaled.

"Lana was part of the coup to get us together. Remember making out?" Chloe just nodded with a grin on her face. "You're still really good at that," he told her.

"I've had lots of practice." Clark looked almost downtrodden, and Chloe added, "With you. How often have we found ourselves in compromising situations?"

"Too often," Clark replied before correcting himself, "or a lot, I mean. It's a nice situation to be in. Compromising, that is."

"Yeah. Well, we're almost there." Clark cocked his eyebrow. "The restaurant," she clarified.

"We were there almost five minutes ago. This is the fourth time we've driven around this same block."

"I know," she admitting before turning toward the valet parking.

- - -

Pete leaned against the front desk. Lois sat in a chair behind it. Their eyes were locked in heated fury, each one daring the other to make a move.

"Alburquerque, New Mexico." Pete proclaimed.

"Baton Rouge, Louisiana." Lois replied.

"Charleston, North Carolina."

"Dover, Delaware."

"Easton, Pennsylvania."

"Fredericksburg, Virginia."

"Gainesville, Florida."

"Honolulu, Hawaii. Doubles."

"Indianapolis, Indiana."

"That's so not fair! You've played before."

"I have three brothers. We played this game all the time. Sometimes with less age-appropriate topics. Go."

"Juneau, Alaska. Point accepted." Lois seethed loudly.

"That puts me five ahead, lackey." His smile fell. "Crap, I forgot K."

"Pete, thirty minutes on I-70 East, and you end up in Kansas City, Missouri."

Pete let his head fall to the desk. "Points accepted. I'm still ahead though."

"Not after we play non-US cities. Amsterdam, Netherlands."

"Brussels, Belgium. Doubles."

Lois paused for a moment, "Calgary, Canada."

"I've never heard of that city. Canada shouldn't even count as a country. I'll accept the point. Dublin, Ireland."

"Good one. Easter Island… Where the _hell_ is Easter Island?"

"I dunno," Pete replied, perplexed. "Is it even a real city?"

"Good question."

The conversation was interrupted by the dinging of the entrance door bell. A stunning brunette woman walked in. Lois took a quick glance at Pete, who sat frozen with is mouth hanging open.

"Can we help you?" Lois said.

"Is this the, uh, Eury-… however you say it, Hotel? I need a room."

"Actually—" Lois began.

"Yeah, we can probably get you a room," Pete commented. The woman smiled.

Pete turned to Lois and whispered, "Give me a key."

"No, I'm not giving you a key so you can hit on this chick."

"Look, I think I've met her before. Just give me the key."

"No."

Pete sighed. "What do you want?"

Lois paused as Pete squirmed. "I get to be in charge."

"I still get to take her up to her room."

Lois paused for a moment, looking at Pete, then dropped a key in his hand. "Deal."

"Pleasure doin' business with ya, boss." Pete spun around. "So sorry, Miss, my assistant here had trouble finding an acceptable room."

"That's fine. I'm in no hurry." Pete motioned to the flight of stairs. "If you'll follow me up the stairs, we'll take you to your room." As he and the woman ascended the stairs, Pete stared at the key, seeing no number. He sent a pleading look down to Lois. He stole a glance at the woman, who gave no indication that she was paying attention, so he gave her a have-mercy gesture and mouthed "boss" again. She signaled 5-0-1 to him.

"So, you didn't need my name or credit card or anything?"

"We'll do that later. Though I'm going to need your name and phone number." He tried to say it casually.

"Erika Fox," she replied, extending her hand.

- - -

_Pierre d'Eau _was a quaint little French-style restaurant. When Lex was trying to impress a woman, he preferred the larger, ritzier _La Maison Blanche_. But, tonight, he dined at _Pierre d'Eau_, because his date preferred it. They were sitting at an elevated table near the back. Lana sipped her red wine as she dined on a lemony fish dish.

She reluctantly began to speak, "Listen, Lex, I wanted your thoughts on this." He faced her with rapt attention. "I was thinking about doing field work."

Lex almost chocked on his wine. "Really?"

"Lex…"

He sighed. "Lana, you're gonna give me high blood pressure." Pausing for a moment, he began an exposition, "Clark is invincible. Pete can fight like nobody else. And Lois is a natural escapist. I don't worry about them. But, as much power as you have over the simple-minded, I just worry about what would happen to you in combat." Lana continued to stare him down as he shook his head, "Look, I can't stop you from going out. But I can make you promise me that you'll be careful. And that you'll at least train first."

She grasped his hand tightly. "Of course, Lex. And it's just an idea. It's not about the field. It's about the fact that between Chloe and me, the front desk is overstaffed. You've seen the numbers we're recording. There's got to be a more efficient way to do business."

Lex smirked coyly, "Now you're just trying to turn me on."

"Maybe a little bit." She leaned forward, daring Lex's eyes to divert toward her neckline. So wrapped up in the gaze, neither paid any attention to the other patrons of the restaurant. Because of their position, Lex and Lana couldn't see Clark and Chloe sitting at a small table on the main floor. But Chloe could see them. Clark had his back to them and seemed pretty engaged in making the candle flame dance with his finger.

Studying them from afar, Chloe relayed to Clark, "Lex and Lana are here." Clark turned his head to look before his eyes returned to his date. Chloe kept talking, "They're here on a date. It seems like… I think they've been seeing each other for a while." Clark just nodded, trusting Chloe's heightened perceptions. "They're happy, but… they're hiding something. Lana… she's afraid… not of Lex, but… but that Lex isn't being sincere. Like he's only going to fund Archangel Investigations as long as… as long as she sleeps with him." She met Clark's eyes, but found only concern there. She continued, "Lex… he still has secrets. Dark secrets. I don't know what, though. He's afraid, too, that Lana'll find out. And that she'll leave him." Clark remained stoic. Chloe added, "They're falling in love with each other again."

"I'd feel kind of hypocritical calling them out on their interoffice liaison, wouldn't you?"

She turned to face Clark, "Let's just have dinner. It's not any of our business." But she didn't sound completely sincere.

The night went fine. Chloe and Clark fell into a comfortable groove just chatting. In fact, once they got past the awkwardness-causing "You look great tonight" comments, their small talk flowed easily. They didn't even notice when Lex or Lana disappeared.

In fact, it wasn't until dessert that either remembered that they were on a date. Watching Clark eat his apple _tarte_ with whipped cream aroused certain emotions in Chloe. And Clark definitely snuck peaks at Chloe downing her chocolate mousse. Also Clark was handed the bill.

"I was about to lick the bowl," Chloe commented on the way back to the car, her arm in Clark's.

"I noticed."

"Uh-huh. Like you weren't enjoying your apple thingie. I don't I've ever seen you happier."

At that moment, Chloe felt her purse snatched from her arm. She screamed, "Hey!" but Clark had already grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt. The thief legs ran out from under him and he landed flat on his back. Clark, without breaking the guy's hand, Chloe hoped, pried Chloe purse and returned it to her.

"Well, I guess we can't go out without a little excitement," Chloe commented.

Since they'd rather not attract attention to themselves, Chloe flirted with the valet, who volunteered to talk to the police so that they could go home.

- - -

Erika knew that Pete asking her to spot for him was nothing more than a ploy. She could tell by the size of his arms that she'd be next to no good holding his weights up for him.

"So," Pete said, not without effort, since he was lifting a very heavy load, "what have you been up to since high school? We didn't talk much after the formal."

"Yeah, that was my fault. I was kind of shallow back then. I'd stay with a guy until I got asked out by someone of a higher string on the football team."

"No harm, no foul," Pete replied, straining to life the weight once more.

"Well, anyway, I got into Kansas State with a full ride. Majored in business. Was a Tri-Psi until it got shut down."

"I heard about that. Vampires?"

Erika looked uncomfortable, replying, "That was the Met U chapter. Our problem was hazing. Kind of pushed the Walk of Shame too far."

"Do tell," Pete said, straining to push the bar up once more, having no success, but not daring to ask for help.

Erika leaned over and whispered into his ear. Wide-eyed, the weights shot up in Pete's hands, where he laid them down on the catch before he killed himself.

"So," she began, "how'd you end up managing a hotel?"

"Kind of funny story actually."

"You're with that supernatural detective agency, aren't you?" she asked plainly.

Pete paused, "Yeah. Thing is, kind of trying to keep a low profile about my real identity."

"My lips are sealed. Honestly, I've known all along. Why else would I come to a hotel that's obviously not open?" Pete stood stunned. "I saw your picture in a newspaper ad. What's your superpower? Those nice muscles?"

"These are all natural." He didn't actually need to flex, but Erika was leading him on, so he relented. "Actually, I just have this super-instinct with sword and daggers and what not." Pete's eyes dropped to her neck, where she was fingering a clear crystal necklace. "Hey, I recognize that."

"Really? I picked it up in Paris. They're big there."

Pete grinned, "You know Lucy Lane?"

"Doesn't ring a bell. Was she a Tri-Psi or something?"

"Not sure."

Waggling her eyebrows, she asked, "Was she really hot?" Pete was fairly sure he may never find words again.

- - -

"It was like nothing had changed. Like we were still just buddies," Chloe confessed to the phone headset, "Was it ever like that with you and Clark?"

From her cell phone, Lana replied, "No, but we had a very different relationship. I think we would have fared better if we'd begun as friends."

"It's just, I can never tell if he thinks of me as a girl or not. I mean, I wore the red dress, and I don't know if he looked below my neck once."

Lana paused. "Well, I'm not saying that's not a bit strange. Hell, _I_ look when you wear the red dress. Granted, it's more out of jealousy…"

"Shut up. It's like the one thing I've got on you. But, any ideas what the problem might be?"

"Forgive me for even bringing this up, but it's possible that Clark's thinking back to the first time you two got together. He may be wondering if back then he was just trying to get over me."

"Lana…"

"Don't think for a moment I don't think you and Clark would be great together. Or that for some reason I want him back." She laughed at part. "I'm saying Clark might be a big, dumb alien who doesn't know his own feelings. Question is, are you willing to fight for it?"

"Fight?"

"If not, then maybe you ought to cut your losses. I'm telling you right now, as pretty as he is, a relationship with Clark is trickier than you might think. Maybe you're smarter getting out."

Chloe was quiet for a long time, but Lana sat unfettered, drinking her coffee, waiting patiently for Chloe to say…

"I love him," Chloe whispered.

"Yeah, I know," Lana replied matter-of-factly, "And he's crazy about you. Hang in there."

"Then what was that 'Maybe you're smarter getting out' stuff."

"A test. You passed. I'll help you pick out china patterns. I'm thinking something floral."

"A test? You're evil, you know that?"

"I tried to push plates with flowers on _you_. Yeah, I'm evil."

"Got to go, I think we have a client."

"Bye." Lana hung up right as a woman sat down across from her.

A woman of some thirty years with elaborately styled hair and high-fashion clothing sat down and wordless pulled out a tape recorder and notepad. Looking up and tilting her head to the side superiorly, she asked, "Okay, princess, what can I do for you?"

"I want you to look into Lex Luthor."

Linda Lake sneered, "Look, honeybunch, I'm a celebrity affairs columnist, not a private investigator. Not that Lex isn't newsworthy, but I'm kind of getting the vibe that you're more interested in finding what pinup of the month the good billionaire is screwing, so maybe you'll get your second chance."

"You recognize me?"

"I've got files, honey, and 'Lana Lang' definitely was a name under Lex's notorious Chippy of the Week list." With this, Linda took the glass of water of sitting that the waiter had set down beside her and down the entire thing in half a dozen soft gulps.

"Well, if I was just on his 'Chippy of the Week' list, then you obviously haven't been paying attention because I've been his steady secret girlfriend going on three months now."

Linda popped and ice cube in her mouth. She sucked on it and it melted in record time as she examined Lana. "I've got a lot of celebs to follow. And a private monogamous relationship of a non-movie star? Doesn't exactly make headlines. You sure he's faithful?"

"I would think you'd be just as interested in that as I would."

Linda looked heatedly at Lana, and, had her hand not been sitting in her lap, Lana would have noticed it was bubbling. "Three months? Must mean you're intelligent. He only wines-dines-wham-bam-thank-you-ma'ams the ditzes. Anyway, what's my motivation for focusing on Lexy Warbucks?"

"How 'bout a tell-all?"

"Alright, it's a start, but if I don't dig up any dirt in my investigations, I'm dropping you like a skinny sack of potatoes."

With syrupy sweetness, Lana replied, "Pleasure doing business with you."

- - -

As Chloe hung up, Maggie Sawyer entered the doors of Archangel Investigations with confidence. She eyed the very familiar blond woman behind the desk, who looked up at her and greeted her, "Hello, welcome to Archangel Investigations… Detective Sawyer."

_Too easy_, Sawyer thought. With innocence, she baited, "Do we know each other?"

Sawyer was not prepared for the answer. "Chloe Sullivan. I used to give you hell with my reporter nosiness a few years back before you transferred."

Her face dropped. "Oh, well, of course I remember you. How could I forget?" she teased.

"Can I help you with something? Maybe something about the _Atlantis_ incident?

"No, no, we've got that all wrapped up. I just came to chat. I was curious; how did you and 'the team' meet?"

Chloe answered plainly, "Hang around people of the superpowered persuasion as much as I do, you're bound to make a few contacts."

Sawyer displayed an AAI poster. "I couldn't help but notice that Jordan Elliot looks like your friend Clark Kent, who I also seem to recall gave me trouble."

"Busted," commented Chloe a little too lightly. "Yeah, Clark whetted my taste for tall dark men that I'm not quite over."

"Oh, so you and Jordan…?"

"God, no. No one gets close to Jordan. He's a good guy, maybe not a team player, but he gets the job done." She tacked on, "And there's the whole sizzle factor."

"So, anyway, what is Clark up to these days? Keep in contact?"

Chloe paused without breaking a sweat, "Yeah, we do. He still runs his dad's farm, bless his heart."

"There was an incident at _Pierre d'Eau_ last night. Valet says it happened to two people fitting yours and Jordan Elliot's description."

"The world's most incompetent mugging? That was actually _Clark_ and I. He was in town visiting his mom. We went out to dinner."

Sawyer faced remained steeled, "Tell me, you ever see your cousin?"

"Which one? Lois or Lucy? Lucy's been MIA for years. Lois is on extended study abroad to Germany. She was supposed to return in October… of 2008. I think she kind of enjoyed the local cuisine a little too much. And by cuisine, I mean beverage."

"What about Lana Lang?"

Chloe pretended to be intrigued by the line of questioning. She dutifully responded, "Uh, well, she moved to Gotham after she graduated. I want to say she's teaching art."

"How 'bout Pete Ross?"

Her eyes widened. "If you can track him down, have him give me a call."

Sawyer studied Chloe, who looked back with innocence and sincerity. "Well, just curious." As she moved to the door, she turned back for one last shot, "Happen to have a relationship with Veronica Venus?"

Chloe looked downtrodden, "Damn, I thought I was keeping a better cover. You got her real name from the intern exchange right? 2007? She's gonna kill me."

Sawyer again paused. "Your secret's safe with me," she feigned.

- - -

"And…" Clark replied worriedly, as he sat at the foot of Chloe's bed.

"Threw her off. I was a dorky pair of glasses away from being Jayson Blair."

"You always were really good at that." He pressed a syringe into a small jar of blood.

As he knelt beside her, she turned to him and asked, "Clark, I'm having second thoughts about our relationship."

Clark steeled himself and looked up, "Okay… um, I guess you want to preserve our friendship. And we talked about how this wasn't a good idea last night… plus, we've tried this before and only a crazy person would—"

He was cut off as Chloe pressed her lips against his. As she pulled away, he noted she was staring intently into his eyes.

"Uh, Chloe, am I not paying attention well enough, 'cause you're really confusing me."

"It's pretty easy. I was testing you Clark. You passed."

He lowered his eyebrows and stuck her with the needle. She yelped. "Hey!"

"Serves you right."

"It's not my fault you talk better without words. I should just read you all the time."

"So, we're…"

"Don't tell me you're not excited about that."

He just looked back at her with the tiniest of smiles.

- - -

When Lois entered came down to the workout room, Pete and Erika were passionately kissing. He had her pressed against the wall. Their hands explored relentlessly.

"Gee, why does everyone get action around here but me?"

She walked to the large mat and began sparring with a fighting dummy.

As Erika went to work on his neck, Pete gave Lois a dirty look. "Do you mind?"

"Do you? You've got a room, and so does Miss Second-Base-In-A-Public-Area."

Erika whispered in Pete's ear, "You know, she's got a point. I'd love to see your room."

Lois couldn't blame Pete for how quickly he pulled his new paramour out of the room.

- - -

Detective Sawyer marched into the room. "Tell me you've tracked down those names."

"You betcha. Clark Kent: he lives in a town called Smallville about three hours south of us."

"You sure about that?"

"Somehow I knew you'd ask about that. Yes, I'm sure. I called the station down there. A deputy lives down the road from him and he says that Clark farms a small section of farmland. Enough to keep a man busy all day. He said, and I quote, 'I don't reckon Kent's got time to make six-hours trips.'"

Sawyer sighed, "Okay. The rest?"

"We tracked down Lana Lang. She lives in Gotham City and teaches art at some special school for disadvantaged youths. I talked with the proprietor himself."

In his penthouse office in Gotham, Bruce Wayne grinned as he looked at his phone. It was an easy favor to Clark and Chloe to claim their friend Lana worked at his school. He just might make a visit to Metropolis soon.

"Okay, I tracked down Lois Lane," Yin continued, "It was pretty easy. Her father's a three-star general, and I talked to some second lieutenant with the British Army who's been keeping tabs on her. Says she lives in Germany now doing odd jobs."

Slipping his hand across his bleach-blond hair, Spike commented to himself, "The favors I do for Angel and his lackies." Checking out the window, he noticed dusk had broken and it would probably be a good time for a pint.

"And Pete Ross?" Saywer requested.

"He's a geologist for hire. He's on some archeological dig in Guatemala sponsored by LexCorp."

Sawyer didn't answer, just stomped out to the room toward the chief's office.

Chief Bullock didn't even look up from his copy of _The Daily Planet_ when Sawyer walked in.

"I was wrong, Harv; it's not them."

The burly, black-haired man looked up, "Strange. You usually have a sixth sense about these things. I'm disappointed. I wanted those names."

"Look, Harv, it's my number one priority. I'll get you that info."

"That's all, Mags."

Sawyer stopped with her back to Bullock. "I told you not to call me that."

"Hey, we do what we do to get where we are, Sweet Cheeks. Just 'cause you never liked it doesn't mean I didn't have the time of my life."

Sawyer walked out.

Bullock picked up his phone and dialed a number by memory. "She's clueless. Whoever this group is, they're good at keeping secrets." He paused to listen, "Hey, whatever the hell get these freaks of my streets, I'm okay with… No, you're my most generous benefactor and I never disappoint my supporters."

- - -

Pete lay in bed alone, in boxers, grinning from ear to ear. He hadn't even had to open his box of condoms. He was slightly disappointed that she had to run off so soon, but the night had sure been worth it. Pete was still in a daze from the nearly surreal occurrence.

- - -

The tall, dark-haired woman paid no heed to the gurgling water cooler as she passed by the dazed doorman at Metropolis's most exclusive apartment complex. Clutching the crystal necklace she'd taken from her subordinate earlier that night, she pressed the up button on the elevator. She stood elegantly as the elevator ascended to the fifty-second floor, spraying perfume on. She knocked on the door and when it was opened, she grinned. "Honey, I'm home."

* * *

Director's Note: It was great to get Sam Jones in his prime again. Then again, I would too, if someone brought in Angelika Libera to perform with me. Angelika has really grown as an actress and we were thrilled that we didn't have to recast the part of "Erika Fox." Our only regret is that we had to cut so much of his screen time. We recorded about 65 minutes of good film and had to cut it down. We pushed most of the Linda Lake stuff to subsequent episodes, but by adding so many subplots, we really couldn't cut much more out except for the Pete/Erika buildup. 

Anyway, thanks to Tori Spelling for reprising her role.

Jill Teed reprises her role as "Capt. Maggie Sawyer." And thanks to whoever's butt the casting department kissed for letting us borrow Patrick Warburton. He did great in his cameo as "Chief Harvey Bullock." Leonard Wu portrayed "Lab Tech Eric Yin."

I know a lot of you have been saying it's a cardinal sin that Annette O'Toole hasn't reprised her role, and we agree. She's been doing a movie with hubby Michael McKean and hasn't been able to come back, yet. Luckily, she's finished filming, and we hope to be able to carve out some screen time for her in the next few episodes. And since we mentioned him, there may be another Perry White cameo or two in the near future.

Kristoffer Polaha was our stand-in for "Bruce Wayne." James Marsters reprised his role as "Spike." He wants everyone to know that he did not really bleach his hair.

We finally got 108 ironed out, and, ratings pending, it is scheduled to air. They were unusually skeptical, but after telling them my ideas for the two following episodes, with working titles of "Halloween" and "Invader," they got on board real quick. We'll be having a meeting soon where they'll let me know how many episodes I'll have to round out the season.

Though, before long, I'm going to have to set up a pitch for Season 2. It's a tough market.

Oh, and I hope the Canada barb didn't offend anyone. We're filming out of Vancouver and we're making light of the fact.

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: AAI calls for reinforcements when multiple metas escape 33.1. Lois isn't happy.

A/N: I know, I'm a horrible person for not updating in like a month. School work came up.

(Sonriso) - Why is Clark so conflicted? There is Chloe and there is not Chloe. Chloe is clearly superior.

©2006 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Monday, January 29, 2007. Finished Friday, March 23, 2007. Updated Monday, May 7, 2007.


	8. Episode 107: Helen

Archangel Investigations: Helen  
by Creedog VanDrey

Category: _Smallville  
_Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance  
Rating: TV-PG V S D  
Language: English  
Summery: After a breakout at 33.1, Archangel Investigations brings in reinforcements.  
Spoilers: None, though similar to "Justice"

Director's Commentary: Honestly, we wrote this premise a while back. You're going to think we ripped off "Justice," but we didn't. At least we don't think we did. It's possible that one of my crack monkeys read a spoiler, so we apologize to Al and Miles, who have agreed not to sue us.

A/N: However, if you are looking for a "Justice" fic, catch "Nanny" and its upcoming sequel.

* * *

Episode 107: Helen

Lionel entered his son's office to find Lex reading a book at his desk.

"Ah, son, what fine piece of literature has grasped your attention today?"

"_The Iliad_."

Lionel nodded with pride, "Excellent choice. Whose translation?" Without asking, he poured himself a glass of water and sat down comfortably in one of Lex's chairs.

"Lombardo's," Lex replied without looking up.

Lionel set his glass down with an audible _clink_. "I should be ashamed to call you my son," he commented dryly, "Fitzgerald's version is much better."

Lex laid the book down, faux-reluctantly. "Sorry to disappoint. But _everyone_ knows that Fitzgerald's dialogue is completely unreadable."

"Lex, I'm worried about you," Lionel said, his mood abruptly darker.

"Now why is that, Dad?"

"It's about Miss Lang. I think it was very foolish of you to think that you could keep the relationship from me."

Lex grinned insincerely. "I was wondering when you were going to confront me about that, Dad. Listen, my relationship with Lana is not interfering with my work. In fact, I'm using her to gain a profit and having fun at the same time. I figured you'd applaud me."

Lionel groaned. "Lex, you should know by now I could care less about your romantic involvements. My concern deals with your attempts to have a relationship outside of Miss Lang."

"Beg your pardon?"

Lionel plopped the Arts & Living section of _The Daily Planet_ on Lex's desk.

"Hmm," Lex said, studying the paper, "How in the world did this get past the editors? You'd think only _The Inquisitor_ would pull this kind of stunt. It's completely false." "Is This Mystery Woman Lex Luthor's New Squeeze?" proclaimed the front page.

"This woman is known for breaking _true_ stories, Lex. That's why she's **not** at the _Inquisitor_."

Ignoring his father, Lex began to think aloud. "This puts me in an awkward position. For one, it threatens my relationship with Lana. If we sue _The Planet_ for libel, it puts me at odds with Chloe, not to mention puts me in the spotlight even more, and possibly my connections to Archangel Investigations. So, it's in my best interest just to let the story run. What I find strange is that Lake has taken a sudden interest in me again. I'm quite a minor celebrity if that." Lex sighed with rather mild frustration.

"Nothing to worry about, son. I've seen to it that she'll be killed."

Lex rolled his eyes. "Dad, you take this evil mastermind thing _way_ too seriously. Though, if it's too late to pull back the order, can you at least assure me that it will be painful or messy?"

"Both, in fact."

"I'm glad I can always count on you."

- - -

_Groo_ _was rather amused by human customs. He and Clark would not permitted into the festival—Clark called it a "charity function," which did not translate for Groo since Pylea had no word for "charity"—because they were improperly dressed. On Pylea, warriors were afforded every honor._

_So, they entered the warrior way: by lifting the guard up into the air and depositing him on the walkway outside with the metal railing wrapped around his torso and a street lamp. _

_Lois was easily enough to find. Wearing a gown so low-cut, she only barely pulled it off, she exclaimed, "Smallville, what're you doin' here?" She saw Groo, and replied, "And, you, Mark, right? You never called."_

"_I apologize, Lois. I was summoned to another galaxy to defeat a race of Khundians_."

"_Well, what do you know? You're a loon. Isn't that just so typical?" Lois said, sipping her champagne. "It also explains your hair, which looks like it's seen neither a barber nor a comb in months." Clark winced. _

_At this moment, a tall, attractive blond man walked up and stood beside Lois, "Hey, Clark, who's your friend, and how'd he get in?" _

"_We defeated the guards in hand-to-hand combat," Groo claimed without repose. Clark vainly tried to laugh it off. As Oliver took a step toward Groo, he commented, "Look, big guy, this function is for a very good cause, and you're harassing my date, who I must say, I'm rather partial to, and I don't appreciate you coming in and heckling some ex-girlfriend of yours. Why she would ever come within ten feet of you eludes me." _

_Clark_ _took a step back to stand with Lois as Groo puffed up. _

"_Men," Lois commented. "How do you attract such weirdos, Clark?" _

"_It's a gift," he replied before tapping her across the forehead. After a quick check right and left, he zipped off with Lois in his arms. _

_Groo, noting the disappearance of Clark and Lois, took a step back, replying, "It seems I have more pressing needs than you." With this, he stomped off. _

_Oliver, clearly thinking he'd won the face-off, sent a proud smile in his date's direction, only to find her missing. _

- - -

He was about six feet in height, maybe a little more. Still in his mid-twenties, he had a full head of jet-black hair, which was combed in a stylish part. He was broad-shouldered and underneath his black turtleneck, it was readily apparent that he worked out like a maniac. He surveyed the hotel lobby with mild if amused interest, removing black leather driving gloves and slipping them into the pocket of the leather jacket he held over his arm.

He was immediately greeted by Clark and Chloe, who raced to hug him. "So, this is your base of operations? Not exactly an impenetrable fortress."

"Well," Chloe responded, "we had to tear town the hundred-foot stone wall. It was hurting our walk-in business."

The trio then made their way into Clark's office. Chloe was the first to comment to him, "It seems you've been making the paper a lot recently."

He gave her a half-smile. "For my brilliant business tactics, or my _other_ extracurricular activities?"

Chloe just shot him a knowing look.

"How's Andrea doing?" Clark asked with concern.

"She's doing very well. We've been working on her anger issues. She's made quite a name for herself throughout Gotham's _barrios_." Bruce took a final survey of Clark and Chloe, noting Clark's proximity. "So," he asked, "when did you two…"

After exchanges glances with Chloe, Clark responded, "How did you…?"

"Body language. I noticed _you_ were much more territorial of Chloe than you usually are. And she didn't resist the violation of personal space at all."

"We, uh, yeah…" Chloe responded, grinning at Clark, who felt at ease wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Well, congrats, you two. I must say, I've _very_ disappointed my favorite intrepid reporter is off the market."

"You flatter me. Don't think I haven't noticed it's always the _same_ female reporter doing your coverage in the _Gotham Gazette_. I can read between the lines."

Bruce blushed. "I wouldn't read too deeply. She was a lot less interested in Bruce Wayne once she set her sights on Batman." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a woman walking in. "Looks like you've got a client."

"That's Lois," Chloe replied flatly, "haven't you ever met her?"

"Your cousin? No. Trust me, I'd remember _her_," Bruce answered salaciously.

After mouthing "Gag me," to Clark, Chloe escorted Bruce out into the foyer, where Lois dropped her duffel bag in a chair.

"You guys should have talked me out of these EMS classes. It was nothing but a bunch of pictures of injuries you don't ever want to have." She looked up noticed something about Chloe's tall, dark-haired companion. "You're not Clark."

Chloe, grinning, introduced him, "Lois, this is my friend Bruce Wayne. Bruce, my cousin Lois Lane."

"Hey, our names rhyme," Lois replied, thought she mentally kicked herself after the handshake. "Any friend of Chloe is a friend of mine. You have a pretty lucky name."

Bemused, Bruce replied, "Care to elaborate?"

"That rich old guy in Gotham? The bazillionaire doctor?"

Bruce calmed replied, "I believe you're thinking of the late Thomas Wayne. His son Bruce, who by the way is _barely_ a billionaire, is the figurehead-in-training at Wayne Enterprises."

"Oh… sorry, Mr. Wayne."

"Bruce, please." He smiled at her, which was returned.

Chloe turned around and rolled her eyes at Clark.

- - -

When Lex entered the 33.1 facility, he noted the loud alarms blaring.

Racing to his father's side, he called, "Dad, what happened?"

Pulling his son back into the elevator, Lionel replied, "Incompetent technicians. There was a breakout."

"How many did we lose?"

"There was a failsafe. Most of them are trapped downstairs. Once we get them back in their cages, we'll check the rosters."

Lex threw his hands up in disgust. "Dad, we can't have those freaks ripping apart the building from the inside out!" Lex protested. "I could get Archangel Investigations to—"

"You will do no such thing! We can't compromise the security of this facility!"

"God dammit, Dad! How many employees are you willing to risk?" The elevator reached the top floor, and the two got out.

"You think we didn't install emergency exits? The only deaths are those who were too stupid or too slow to get out."

"What stops the metas from ripping each other to shreds?"

Lionel and Lex stopped speaking for a moment as they passed Lex's attractive female secretary, a buxom woman with strawberry blond hair. They nodded their heads to her and she smiled sweetly in return.

Once in the safely of Lionel's office, the conversation picked up where it was left off. "I've instigated Project Legion. You know those two dozen prisoners we hired to help with landscaping? We're injecting them with an experimental kryptonite strength-enhancing drug."

"And why didn't I know about this?"

Lionel took a second to survey his son's undue curiosity before answering, "I usually wait until after the testing phase to tell you. Well, it's the testing phase now."

Lex sighed, "It's a good thing neither of us were successful in killing the other. Or else, we'd never be around to clean up the other's messes." He opened his phone, "Hope, I need you to patch me through to Archangel Investigations. Alter my voice and mask the number as a pay phone. Thanks." He waited on the line.

"Lex, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to report a metahuman sighting near LuthorCorp Tower. Don't worry. They won't make the connection. We'll make sure of that."

- - -

Lana walked in just as Bruce was rushing out. They exchange quick hello's and Bruce apologized for running out.

"Where's Bruce off to?"

"Urgent business matter," Chloe replied, "he should be back."

"Where is everybody?"

"We got an anonymous call. There was a sighting near LuthorCorp. Team went to investigate."

- - -

Chloe was the only one in the lobby went Clark returned, handing Chloe a can of Ajax cleanser.

Setting the can on the sink, she asked, "So, did we get him?"

"Them. There were four of them. We couldn't hold them off."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'd be insane to go in there alone. I called for reinforcements."

Because of the bright sunlight, Chloe wasn't able to identify the three figures walking down the front steps at first.

Left of Clark appeared Oliver Queen, now sporting a goatee. He wore a rather casual outfit: white peasant shirt and olive green slacks. To Clark's left was A.C. Curry, in his characteristic orange muscle shirt and camouflage pants, carrying a Coast Guard duffel over his shoulder. Walking in behind them was the distinctive face of Groo.

Chloe feigned a smile and replied in a forced voice with an unusual level of glee, "Guys! It's great to see you! Let's go in Clark's office!" She grabbed Clark's arm and dragged him in, a gesture not lost of the three men.

Oliver commented, "You don't see happy to see us, Chloe."

"No," she said, relieved, "I am; it's just… Never mind. It's not important." Still the same, she looked out the window into the lobby. "How'd you guys get here so quick?"

A.C. was the first to answer, "I was chilling in Tempest Key when I got Clark's call. Took a detour around Florida into the Gulf of Mexico, then it was a short ten minute swim up the Mississippi and down the Missouri."

"Yeah, I retained my jet after the takeover," Oliver replied, with a hint of bitterness.

"Hey," Chloe chastised him, "remember, though, Lex was two years gone from LuthorCorp when you guys got taken over. Like it or not, Lex is playing on the good side now. Or at least funding it. By the way, what's with the whiskers?"

"Hey, why waste time on the clean-cut look? I'm not going to be posing for _Fortune_ anytime soon."

Counting on her fingers, Chloe listed off, "Yeah, but you're a highly sought business consultant, the head of a charitable foundation, and a possible mayoral candidate. You're gonna get publicity photos taken anyway."

"Eh, you just want the story."

"I'm making my share of stories right now, thank you very much." She turned to Groo, "So, how'd you pop down so quickly?"

"A very kind Malacandrian gave me a ride."

Clark sat on a desk. "We really appreciate you coming down here."

Oliver extended his hand, "We made an agreement. Anytime one of us was in need, we fight by their side. Supers united."

Lois showed up at the door, "Hey, Clark, when are those reinforcements gonna arrive…" She stopped dead in her tracks and squeaked, "They're here! Be right back." She nearly ran into Bruce on her way out.

"Bruce! Um, these are a couple of friends of ours…"

Bruce interrupted, "Yeah, that's Oliver Queen. We went to school together. And A.C. Curry is the proud recipient of the 2009 Wayne Conservation Prize. And… I don't believe I've met you, yet," he said to Groo.

"I am the Groosalugg."

"Mark Groo," Lois replied, "Don't ask. Anyway, I'll be right back, guys." With this, she uncomfortably fled.

Oliver was quick to comment, "You know she's a super, too, Bruce. Any reason why you're keeping her in the dark?"

"Batman helped out today. We kind of got off to the wrong foot."

"She seems to like Bruce just fine," A.C. teased.

"Story of my life. Either that or the other way around. Anyone know why she was acting so weird?"

Oliver piped up, "Yeah, we kind of used to date. And, just sayin', but she wasn't crazy about the Green Arrow at first, but she did come around," he added.

A.C.'s attention was piqued, "Wait. You and Lois…?"

Oliver nodded, before quirking his eyebrow, "Hold it, did you…?"

"It was a brief thing when I visited Smallville once."

"And you never told me this?"

"I didn't know you dated her, too." After a long awkward silence, A.C. commented, "Plus, anyway, that's all in the past. I met this coast guard chick…"

Oliver started talking when A.C. did, "No, no, me too. Dinah'd kill me if she knew we were having this conversation." Simultaneously, their eyes turned to Groo.

Groo paused before saying, "Yes. In a way." All three pairs of eyes turned to Bruce.

Bruce offered, "We had a moment in the hall." Their heads turned toward Clark.

Clark replied vehemently, "NO!" He attempted to hide behind Chloe, despite being a foot and a half taller than her. She rolled her eyes and held his hand, which he'd laid on her shoulder.

Chloe smirked. "Lois's the reason why I herded you guys in here. I knew she'd made her rounds among you guys. What can I say, she goes for the heroic. I guess it's better than being in bed with the enemy and having a big battle on our hands."

Oliver changed the subject, "So, Bruce, pretty well cemented to the 'Batman' moniker?"

Solemnly, Bruce replied, "Yes. I feel it's an appropriately dark and superstitious symbol to represent my purging Gotham of crime."

A.C. chuckled, breaking the tension. "Bruce, you have a lot more fun with that then you let on. You've got supermodels hanging on your arm."

Bruce shrugged uncomfortably before deflecting back. "You live on the Florida coach. I'm sure there's enough beach bunnies for you to ogle."

"The 'Green Arrow' name has stuck," Oliver said to no one in particular.

Groo stated proudly, "Being called 'The Groosalugg' already inflicts enough fear into the hearts of my enemies."

Oliver pensively remarked, "Sounds like something hunched-over."

"With fangs," A.C. added. Oliver agreed. "I'm not sure if I need the secret identity, yet," he continued, "but I keeping coming back to 'Aquaman.'"

"Whatever," came another voice in the room. All turned their heads to see Bart Allen leaning again the doorframe. "Sorry, _mi amigos_, traffic was horrible." He was met with blank, unbelieving stares. "Okay, okay, I got distracted. Is it my fault Indianapolis was on the way?"

A.C. challenged, "Okay, Imodium, what's your super name?"

"What do you guys think of…" He posed. "…the Scarlet Speedster?"

He is met with blank glances. A.C. commented, "Bro, you have a color in your name. That's kinda gay."

"You're _Aqua_man," Bart replied immediately.

A.C. stood stunned, but tried to respond, "Well, it's '_mis_ _amigos_,' not '_mi amigos_.'" After another pause, he added quietly, "I'm seeing a Hispanic chick."

Bart mumbled, "So am I…" He perked up, "How 'bout 'the Flash?'" This time, he was met with appreciative murmuring.

"Or 'Impulse,'" teased Oliver. This was met with more appreciative murmuring.

A.C. prompted Bart, "You and Lois ever…?"

Bart scoffed. "No, but me and Chloe had a little something-something." An instant later, he was beside Chloe, leaning seductively on the desk.

All heads turned to Chloe, who vehemently declare, "No!" She hid behind Clark, commenting, "He hit on me and I smiled appreciatively."

"What happened to that Val girl you said you were seeing?" Clark asked, covertly placing his hand against small of Chloe's back.

"We're still trying to work things out," Bart commented, "Kindly don't mention I was flirting…"

"Chloe's with Clark now," A.C. remarked.

"I noticed," Bart answered, eyeing Clark's arm, before zipping to the door again, "My brother from another planet has seen the light that is Chloelicious." Bart zipped in front of Clark and raises his hand for a high-five. Clark simply stood in his place.

Chloe tiredly stated, "'Chloelicous' I think I need to kill you now."

A.C., noting Bart's hand still hanging in the air, "Ooh, no respect, Bro."

Grinning from ear to ear, Bart confessed, "Actually, we did. Just in superspeed. Blink and you'll miss us… a thousand times over."

A grin appeared on Clark's face. It was quickly erased by a dirty look sent by Chloe.

- - -

On the top floor of the LexCorp building, Lana perused the various files of Lex's desk concerning the metahumans Archangel Investigations had captured. Lex sensuously moved her hair aside to kiss the back of her neck.

Her eyebrows raised, she commented, "You're in a rare mood today." Spinning around and biting her lip, she commented, "I kinda don't hate it." She wrapped her arms around Lex's neck. "Though, if Linda Lake were by chance to see the security footage, it might out our relationship."

"I control any cameras in my office. I'm not a fool. So, I take it you didn't believe her article?"

"Be honest with me, Lex. Is there anyone else?" she challenged.

With deep sincerity, Lex replied, "I'd never. One fuzzy picture of some unidentifiable woman in a building that looks like mine? Very shaky proof."

To herself, Lana agreed with dissatisfaction, "You're telling me." She caught his look and threw him off with, "So, we're definitely alone?"

"Yes." According to his laptop, the cameras in the office were on and recording.

"Plus," Lex added, "I think Linda Lake has bigger celebrities to stalk than me."

"You're pretty well-known," Lana replied, turning her head to hide a guilty look. Lex took it as an opportunity to suckle her neck. Not pushing him away, she continued, "Plus, Lex Luthor, dating the same woman twice. It's quite a story."

"Really? I was married twice." Lana tensed. "Sorry, but, you know, I may marry again." Her head shot to look him in the eyes, wondering if there was any humor there. There wasn't. He finally grinned, "I'm not proposing. Or even hinting that I'm ready to propose anytime soon. I'm just saying I don't consider this some tawdry liaison."

Lana smirked. "Tawdry liaison," she repeated in a fairly bad British accent. "Too bad, 'cause I could kind of go for that right now."

On a laptop being watched in an unused storage closet two floors below Lex's office, a brown-haired woman watched the security cam feed from Lex's office. "So nice of you to bring me up while you're making out with your girlfriend."

She fingered the crystal necklace around her neck, which was glowing faintly. She peered deeper into the screen. "Now what is that? Ooh, looks like Lex's new girlfriend isn't as innocent as she claims. I wonder what that symbol means…"

- - -

A great mass of stone rolled down the pier, ripping up wooden boards as it slid along. The stones reformed themselves into a vaguely humanoid shape and ran back down the pier, where Clark and Pete stood waiting. At the same time, a humanoid frog-man was launched from the water, over the pier, and back into the water, followed by A.C. The rock creatures paid no heed to these aerial theatrics.

On the beach, a man, glowing yellow-hot, trudged his way towards Bart, leaving glassy footsteps in his wake, launching hundreds of white sparks at Bart, who danced around as he dodged them.

"C'mon, Hothead! I'm faster than light! Ya gotta do better than that!"

Bart was answered with a nearly blinding shower of sparks which raced towards him. He ran off, looking behind him, seeing the sparks moving towards him, each one individually. He pushed himself, leaving the sparks behind as he made a sharp U-turn, his legs fatiguing as he pressed hard into the sand, leaning over nearly sixty degrees to contain his centripetal force. Once out of the way, he allowed himself to slow down. Things around him unfroze, but still moved slowly. As he passed the energy being, he took note of the hardened footsteps behind him. A light bulb lit above his head.

A fourth meta, who besides his pale, almost-bluish skin and limp black hair, seemed normal. Batman and Green Arrow stood beside each other, poised, waiting for the mutant to make his move. Green Arrow lined up an arrow and shot it. It hit the meta in the shoulder hard. He didn't even wince.

"So what, this guy doesn't feel pain?" Green Arrow griped, "He's actually bleeding. There's nothing super about this guy." He lined up another arrow and shot it into the meta's ankle. The meta merely responded by dragging his now useless foot behind him.

Batman held an arm out to stop Green Arrow. "Look at the grass," he said solemnly. The meta was leaving behind a trail of grey, withered plant matter. "What ever he's emitting, it's toxic."

Green Arrow just grinned, "Luckily, I have a long range weapon." He shot another arrow as Batman threw a batarang. The monster screamed hoarsely, grey vapor emerging from his mouth and creating a cloud in front of him. The arrow and batarang bounced off his body, landing on the ground and breaking to pieces.

"That's one bad case of morning breath," Oliver commented, pulling out an arrow with a small canister on the tip and shooting it. "Let's see how he does with that." The arrow popped like a malfunctioning firework against the meta's thigh. "I'm getting pretty pissed off with this guy," Green Arrow remarked. Batman didn't reply, just ran toward the meta and launched a powerful kick. Upon contact, the meta was thrown a half-step back and Batman fell to the ground as his ankle popped loudly.

The meta breathed down on him. Batman closed his eye and held a black cup over his face. He screamed as the back of his hand turned grey and his eyes burned.

In response, Green Arrow shot a cumbersome metal ball-tipped arrow. Aiming high, the arrow arced down knocked the meta against the head. He continued to walk forward, disoriented. Green Arrow turned around, seeing that he'd backed himself into a nearby forest. Being quick and agile, he could easily maneuver out, but he was worried about the effects the meta would have on the trees. His fears became unfounded when something flew from the sky and slammed hard into the meta, knocking him backwards.

The "something" turned out to be Lois, who landed on the still sprawled-out Batman. She groaned. "I know that feeling anywhere. Kevlar."

"Yep," Batman replied.

Back on the beach, Bart had taken to running circles around the energy meta, showering him with sand. The meta began to move slower, shooting out sparks, but obviously not hitting his target. After a while, he was completely encased in glass. Before Bart had time to survey his handiwork, two figures shot out of the water like rockets. A.C. and the meta had a hold on each other, and the amphibious being was attempting to chew through A.C.'s arm, but the Atlantean had aimed well. They both landed hard on Bart's glass sculpture, with the frog in between. The glass figure tipped over, but did not shatter against the soft hand, but lost a forearm in the struggle. The frog, receiving a blow to the head, fell unconscious.

On the dock, Clark was straining to hold the rock being. "Now, Pete!"

Pete launched three dart-like projectiles, two of which got themselves stuck in the pits of the rock creature and one that landed at the monster's feet. Clark leapt backwards and super-jumped to shore and Pete retreated. Seconds later, there were three great explosions and the monster's arms landed in the water and the rest of him went flying in the air.

Green Arrow reached into his quiver to find himself out of arrows, which didn't surprise him, since there were two dozen sticking out of the flesh of the monster. Batman through a bomb toward a nearby tree, and with a little bit of pushing by Lois, it fell hard on the meta. However, it didn't hinder his progress, as he easily tore through the quickly-withering wood. Ten feet from the Green Arrow, as the hero felt his eyes and skin begin to burn, his attacker was thrown to the ground by a man-sized piece of rock. The Green Arrow was quickly pulled to safety by Lois.

"Thanks, Fly-Girl."

- - -

The members of Archangel Investigations and their allies took seats in the waiting area of the hotel after Chloe and Lana herded the last of the clients out of the room.

"They just wouldn't go away," Lana commented.

Chloe added, "Good thing Groo was free to slay all those cockroaches. Damn I hope the whole cities not infested."

"Me, too. We're were cutting into next month's budget just providing them with coffee."

They took seats with the rest as Lex began his presentation. "Using advanced DNA techniques, we identified the first meta as Rudy Jones, a janitor at the Metropolis Nuclear Energy Co. He's been missing since an attempted sabotage of the plant's power transfer chamber." Lex passed a file to the members of Archangel Investigations and their allies, in costume. "His coworkers believe he may have tried to stick a mop in the main breaker."

Lois piped up, "Why did he not, just, _die_?"

"Well, before you go there, the plant does not use the meteor rock in any way. I'm hypothesizing that he was exposed to radiation due to faulty shields, conveniently mutating him to survive the radiation." Hearing no further inquiry, a relief to him, he continued, "It appears his body was decomposing itself on the atomic level, creating megatons of energy from within his body. By introducing an inhibitor into his body, we were able to stop the reaction. It's going to take a while, though, for his body to purge itself of the silica from that sand trick you pulled, Speedster." Bart lowered his head. Lex pulled out another file, "The rock-man was Anthony Blake…"

"Let me guess," Chloe quipped, "he was a geologist."

"Spelunker. Missing for two months after a particularly dangerous climb into the unknown portions of the Bakerline cave systems. If we can ever reverse his condition, he'll be using prosthetic arms for the rest of his life."

Clark and Pete exchanged worried glances, but Lex spoke firmly, "Don't beat yourselves up. That battle was honestly a real clash of the titans. These men are lucky to be alive. Jones's body would eventually have leeched off too much of its own tissue for him to survive. Blake's heart was having a hell of time pumping blood through his petrifying veins. Another week without treatment and his heart would have given out." The rest gave their solemn motion to continue. "Charley Parker, our frog-man…"

A.C. guessed, "Marine biologist?" His left forearm was heavily bandaged.

"Ornithologist." He was given amused stares. "I can't make this stuff up. Actually, a chemistry teacher and amateur birdwatcher. We haven't connected all the dots, but he _was_ secretly dating the school's biology teacher. With our luck, she was doing secret experiments in her basement." Bart chuckled. "He has a severe concussion, but he's expected to recover. We hope that gene therapy will reverse the effects. The poisonous meta is Jason Woodrue, a former psychiatric patient who was released with a clean bill of health. He was never heard from again and we're guessing he was homeless until now. Unfortunately, he suffered major blood loss. A team of haz mat-suited EMTs tried to save him, but he rejected the blood."

Clark, concerned, commented, "He died?"

"He was dead the moment he transformed. The poison he emitted would have destroyed the nutrients in any food he tried to eat. Plus, his body was reconfigured to make toxins. He was running in a nearly comatose state. If we could reverse his condition—and that's a big 'if' since the chemicals in his body were so corrosive—he might not survive the coma. By the time he would have died naturally in his state, he could have irrevocably poisoned a major water source or vegetative area. He was a plague."

Clark slammed his fist into the couch arm, shattering it. "I hate it when they die."

At this point, Bruce limped into the room, an ankle brace on his leg. "Having a meeting without me?"

Lois jumped up and started to stammer, "Yeah, uh, we're, uh… um…"

Bruce smirked at Lois, "It's time I let you in on a secret." With all eyes on him, Bruce commented, "I know what you guys do for a living. I'm one of your benefactors."

As disappointed looks were exchanged across the room, unnoticed by Lois. Lex did notice them, but could not discern the meaning. "You know, Bruce, who'd ever think that you and I would ever share a business venture?"

"Not me," he responded coldly.

The conversation turned lighter, with the supers bragged to Bruce about their feats, as if he weren't there. Lex noticed Lana was strangely quiet as she stared quite intently at Bruce, a fact that Lex did not take too kindly. So, he began to chat up Lois, "I couldn't help but notice you seemed to have hit it off with Bruce Wayne. You seemed to have a thing with billionaires."

"Are you hitting on me?" Lois deflected.

"I'm insulted that you would even ask. You're not my type. It's just, I couldn't help but overhear that Oliver Queen was also in town." Lois tried not to look over at the Green Arrow. "And at the same time as both A.C. and Groo," he commented, noting them in the corner. "They're kind of against type, don't you think? Or do you have a taste for the more-than-human, too?"

"I have broad tastes. You don't fit into them."

"Well, to each his own. Or her own. Anyway, if you want my advice, which I doubt you will, I wouldn't get too attached to Bruce. He may come off as fun-loving, but it's a cover. Watching your parents gunned down as a child isn't easy."

"It's just as hard seeing them succumb to cancer." For a moment, Lex and Lois locked eyes, but not out of romantic interest or platonic friendship, but simple eye-to-eye understanding.

"Regardless, the man you see is a façade. Bruce and I attended Excelsior together. The boy I knew could never turn into the Gotham's Golden Boy. He's hiding something."

"Aren't we all?" Lois replied suspiciously.

"Yes," Lex replied before switching to a more whimsical mocking tone, "So, have you ever heard the myth of Helen of Troy?"

"Anything to do with the horse?"

"Yes, but that comes later. According to legend, she was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the queen of Sparta. She was so beautiful that when she came of age, many suitors came to her. Accounts vary, but it was about two dozen or so. Sound familiar?"

She shot him a nasty smirk. "You're a riot. Anyway, didn't you have a wife named Helen?"

"Yeah, and I launched a thousand ships for her, too."

Back on the couch, Lana finally spoke up. "Bruce, what happened to your ankle?"

"Twisted it," he replied quickly.

Sensing his desire not to answer the question, she switched topics, "So, what're your thoughts on the Batman?"

"When I first heard about him," Bruce replied, "I figured he was an urban legend. Met him in person and realized I was right. He's barely a man."

Lana studied him for a while. "He's obviously flesh and blood. With a lot of gadgets that aren't available at your local Wal-Mart. Surely he has a benefactor."

Bruce paused. "You've unraveled the connection. Well, the Bat and I are fighting two sides of the same coin. He takes out the scum on the street. I scrub the schools, trying to make sure the scum doesn't spread. While I don't—"

Lana blatantly cut him off. "What do you think that suit's like?" She stared Bruce down, who grinned.

"Hot, and it chafes in all the wrong places." After a long pause, he added, "But I'm just conjecturing, of course."

"Of course."

"Anyway," Bruce said, digging into his pocket, producing a small, bat-shaped pin. "If you're ever in Gotham and end up in the wrong side of town, tilt the wings a corner turn. You'll get some assistance."

"Sorry about your ankle."

"Hey, we can't all be invulnerable like Clark. Not that I couldn't use a dip in the river Styx." He received an amused grin from Lana. "The business world is cruel," he offered as explanation. Lana's grin grew more amused.

- - -

Lana smiled at her photo in the newspaper. She barely recognized herself: curly hair, heavy makeup, including a dark carmine shade of lipstick and maroon eye shadow that were very uncharacteristic of Lana Lang. Her face was powdered to remove her natural golden tan. She wore distracting chandelier earrings and off-the-shoulder blouse to divert readers' eyes. In addition, Jimmy had used a special lens that widened her face imperceptively. The effect was dramatic: the face captioned "Liz McCallum" did resemble the woman sitting at the front desk of Archangel Investigations, but at the same time did not resemble any published photograph of "Lana Lang." Perhaps her cousin or older sister, but not Lana Lang.

Surrounding the image were five hundred words by Veronica Venus about a Type-A, workaholic, Harvard Business-educated entrepreneur who grew up on the rough side of Gotham. The article also claimed McCallum's natural hair color was red but that she died it black as to be perceived as more serious, an in-joke to the photographer. Jimmy had brought in a curly red wig for Lana to wear as part of a disguise. It was a quickly vetoed, as Lana would have to wear it all the time. Jimmy seemed nonplussed, commenting he'd find a use for it. Lana was curious, but did not press the question.

- - -

"So, Dad," Lex commented to his father within the 33.1 facility where the metas had been recaged, "what's the body count?"

"Well, Lex, LuthorCorp will be issuing a press release about two of our prison workers dying while trying to escape. Tragic. Also, one of our researchers died by poisoning, but we've got a good amount of evidence that says his wife is the culprit. There's another in the hospital, but LuthorCorp is footing every cent of his bill. We'll also be giving financial backing for the funerals."

"How magnanimous. Wouldn't want to disrespect the dead. So, about these files… who are these people?" He held up the files.

"Well, that young man mopping down there is Rudy Jones. The rest I believe were fictional. We have some very creative sources."

"Archangel Investigations made _The Planet_ again."

"Yes, charming article about Miss… McCallum. You should ask her out. I know a jeweler that's sorely missing our business. Diamond earrings on sale."

"All by myself? C'mon, Dad, surely you're not out of the game yet. Canes are in, I hear."

"Oh, but I'm a very busy man, Lex. You should enjoy yourself while you're still young."

"Who's to say I'm not enjoying myself?"

"Between Miss Lang and your late night visitor…"

Lex quickly cut his father off. "There's no late-night visitor. I know better than most people the wrath of a woman scorned. Now if you'll excuse me, I have plans tonight." As Lex got into the elevator, he was met by his ex-wife, Helena Bryce, wearing a glowing crystal necklace. He paid her no attention, just got back into the elevator and pressed the topmost button instead of the lobby floor one.

"Are you ready, Lex?"

Distant as a zombie, he replied, "Yes."

On the top floor, Helena got out first, with Lex obediently walking behind her. As they turned the corner, Helena held up a gun toward an empty secretary's desk. "What the…?" As she moved into Lionel's office, she passed the unconscious form of Lionel's statuesque, blond secretary. Inside, she found the hulking metal door of Lionel's office safe ripped from its hinges and thrown across the room, a tattered medieval tapestry underneath it. The floor was littered with dozens of pages with strange writing on them. Another handful of them was thrown from the exposed room-sized, along with a couple of brightly colored crystals.

Peeking inside, Helen found the petite form of Lana Lang furiously digging through the hidden safe. She was dressed in all black, kneeling on the floor, her frilly tank top riding up to expose the black tattoo on the small of her back. The tattoo was an alien symbol: two wavy lines joined to two circles and between two dots. Lana arrogantly rose and turned to face Helen, her heavily-shadowed eyes matching her wildly-styled hair. "Get out," she stated venomously.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Lana didn't answer, just tensed her hands. Electricity cackled around it and she swiped her hand. Helen barely leapt aside. "What the hell is going on?!"

Lex, still standing, tiredly replied, "It appears that Lana has once again been possessed by Isobel."

"Who?" Helen asked, crouched on the ground.

"Countess Marguerite Isobel Thureaux. A powerful, sixteenth-century French witch who is Lana's ancestor."

"Do something!" Helen shrieked.

Lex, still dazed, ambled over to one of Lionel's statuettes, knocked it over, and pressed down on the base. A mechanical drawer popped up with a pistol inside. Nonchalantly, Lex grabbed the gun and aimed it at the emerging Isobel. Without flinching, he fired a shot. Isobel twitched, causing the bullet to impact her shoulder, throwing her back.

With fire in her eyes, she grabbed her wound. It quickly healed, leaving Lana with the bullet in her hand, which she extended. The bullet rose from her palm and shot back toward Lex, whose ability to see in slow-motion allowed him to deflect the bullet with the barrel. He shot three more times, but the bullets were repelled away from Isobel, curving into the wall, the floor, and the outside window. An alarm sounded.

When security and Lionel reached the office, they found the room a mess, papers and crystals strewn across the floor. Lex was unconscious against the wall, the emptied gun lying a few feet from his outstretched hand.

After watching a guard ascertain that Lex was still alive, Lionel raced into his vault. On the far away, an empty document case had its plastic barrier shattered. One shelf was completely empty, the many colored crystals lying on the floor. He turned and found a black, hard-shelled book with alien symbols along the spine, and sighed with relief.

"Sir? Was anything stolen?" asked a well-groomed man of about sixty.

"Yes, Dillon," Lionel replied, "The _Ritual of Hekate_ page. Possibly some of our meteor rock samples."

"And Lex?"

"Does he remember anything?"

"He claims not to."

"Is he lying?"

"As far as I can tell, no."

"It's expensive to send you for MI-5 training. You'd better be right."

"Of course, sir."

"He will see none of this. And Bridgette?"

"She'll be fine."

"Too bad. I was in the mood for another secretary."

"That reminds me, sir. I believe that that golden apple paperweight is missing from your desk."

"Order me another one. It was Bridgette's Secretary's Day gift."

* * *

Director's Note: Oh, and again, I swear I didn't mean to steal "Justice." There's a double agent in our midst, Al and Miles. Big thanks to Justin Hartley ("Oliver Queen/Green Arrow"), Kyle Gallner ("Bart Allen"), and Alan Ritchson ("A.C. Curry") for essentially doing the same thing they did on _Smallville_ last month. Kyle is still a ham, and we let him. Alan readily admits he could never carry the "Aquaman" show by himself, but damn we love him as this not-too-serious Arthur Curry. And even a straight man will readily admit Justin is unfairly pretty, but honestly he's a nice guy. Oh, and the beard was so fake. Victor Webster of _Mutant X_ fame replaces Mark Lutz as "Groo." Honestly, we're conflicted about this. On the one hand, Mark Lutz defined the role. And I _hate_ recasting parts. On the other, we never intended for this to be the same Groo as from _Angel_, but another Groosalugg that emerged when Groo the First failed to fulfill his destiny. This is also why we reshot the "flashback." Erica didn't seem to mind. Also, my casting director Alexis and I have made it our prerogative to bring on the entire cast of _Mutant X_ at some point. No reason in particular. 

As for the absence of Victor Stone/Cyborg and Lee Thompson Young, we knew Lee would likely be busy with his upcoming film project, so we decided to make his role in the episode detachable. I hope it didn't come off as an oversight.

As for Bruce Wayne, we're lucky to even have him. It took a lot of work with DC, who were very understanding even when they essentially told us, no, under no circumstance could we have Batman. They came around, finally, after realizing that we'd already snuck in him in "Siren." I know a lot of you are probably disappointed we didn't go with Christian Bale, but trust me, we weren't going to get Christian freakin' Bale. And we kind of like that. Not because we don't like Christian. Hell, we would have said yes without thinking if he were interested. But we were ecstatic to get Henry Cavill, who fit perfectly into our vision of a slightly younger Bruce Wayne. He just carries himself so well. And for those of you who were curious, Kristoffer Polaha declined the role. He had some film role in LA.

And, yeah, "Helen" wasn't such a red herring, was it? A thousand thanks to Emmanuelle Vaugier for taking time out of her busy schedule to come here. And totally going uncredited for the last episode.

As for our metahuman menaces, "Rocky" was played by _Mutant X_ alum Douglas O'Keefe in a funny suit, "Frogman" by Mark Welling (Tom's bro) in another funny suit, "The Energizer" by _Firefly _alum Alan Tudyk in a funny CGI suit, and "Venom" by Josh Randall in scary makeup. We actually didn't tell Tom that his brother was coming on the show. We just let them film the scene, and afterwards, he took of the suit. You should have seen Tom's face.

We'd like to thank (love to really) Christina Hendricks ("Bridgette") for portraying Lionel's unconscious secretary. She's actually more talented than that, as those of you who know her as YoSaffBridge can attest. She can come back anytime she likes. Also, Michael Fairman (also of _Firefly_ fame; we're shameless, we know) played the part of Collin. The part was originally intended for Tony Jay (Nigel, Lex's British assistant from _Lois & Clark_), but he tragically passed away this year. Joel Tobeck portrayed Randy Jones, the janitor.

Okay, so the next episode is fully planned. We finally came to compromise with the network about the title. It's called "Samaritan," which was about the twelfth title we threw at them. In retrospect, it's my favorite. Contrary to spoilers, it's not "Penance." Anyway, "109: Halloween" and "110: Invader" are right on track. Except we might be switching the order around. We've sent episode summaries for two more episodes, including a finale. I'll have word by next week how many episodes we're getting for this season and the possibility of a second season. The ratings have been decent, especially for a Friday night show.

My writers were giggling to themselves as they wrote this. Apparently there were a lot of very subtle jokes. Tell me if you see them, 'cause I'm clueless.

On the next episode of _Archangel Investigations_: Clark saves a man and ends up making a wise friend.

A/N: Okay, so I stole "Chloelicious" from "Justice." I had permission from Al and Miles.

(Sonriso) - I wish _I_ had permission for a little "Chloelicious." Man, I'm worse than Bart! But it's so good.

©2007 Godeerc VanDrey Enterprises, Inc. Created Friday, March 23, 2007. Finished Monday, May 7, 2007.


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